“OUR 

PlbGRIM 

rATHERS.” 


1898 


SAMUEL  WILLARD 


framing  aub  J'abor. 

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Hon.  Nrwton  Batkman,  HL.  D. 


“OUR 

PIL.QRIM 

rATMBRS.” 

A SYMPOSIUM. 


Illinois  State  Teachers’  Association 
Springfield,  Illinois, 

Dec.  28,  1897.^ 


GALES3UKG,  ILL. 

G'HE  wagoner  printing  CO. 
1898. 


The  education  of  a people  is  a problem  of  transcendent  magnitude 
and  moment.  Into  it  there  enter,  as  into  no  other,  the  elements  of 
national  destiny.  In  the  presence  of  it,  the  petty  issues  that  divide  and 
embattle  political  parties,  are  dwarfed  into  insignificance.  Compared 
with  it,  other  questions  of  national  concern  are  local,  ephemeral — it 
alone  is  all-embracing  and  everlasting  in  its  sweep  and  grasp,  because  it 
enfolds  the  life  itself  of  the  state,  in  the  shaping  and  moulding  of  the 
character  of  its  citizens. — Batemati. 


Preface. 


The  Illinois  State  Teachers’  Association  was 
org’anized  in  Blooming* ton,  December  26,  1853. 
Throug-h  its  influence  came  the  State  Superintend- 
ency, the  County  Superintendency,  the  Normal 
Schools,  the  State  University,  and  even  the  school 
system  itself.  Thoug*h  the  first  act  establishing* 
free  schools  in  Illinois  was  passed  by  the  General 
Assembly  in  1825,  yet  the  means  of  support  were  so 
uncertain  that  it  was  not  till  the  Free  School  Act 
of  1855  had  become  a law  that  the  school  system 
was  placed  upon  a firm  basis. 

The  men  who  laid  the  foundation  of  our  common 
school  system  have  mostly  passed  away,  but  there 
remain  a few  who  were  leaders  in  those  days,  and 
whom  the  teachers  of  the  State  still  revere.  That 
the  teachers  of  to-day  mig*ht  hear  the  story  of  those 
times  from  the  actors  themselves,  it  was  sug*g*ested 
by  Mr.  A.  V.  Greenman,  Superintendent  of  West 
Aurora  Schools  and  Chairman  of  the  Executive 
Committee  for  1897,  to  bring*  these  educational  pio- 
neers before  the  Association  once  more.  Accord- 
ing*ly  the  closing*  session  of  the  State  Teachers’ 
Association,  held  at  Spring*field,  111.,  Dec.  28-30, 
1897,  was  g*iven  to  a symposium — “Our  Pilg*rim 


4 


“OuK  PiivGKiM  Fathp:ks.” 


Fathers."  Mr.  E.  A.  Gastman,  Superintendent  of 
Schools,  Decatur,  111.,  presided  and  introduced  the 
speakers  with  a pleasant  bit  of  personal  reminis- 
cence, which  will  be  found  preceding-  each  address. 
The  speakers  were  g-iven  the  closest  attention,  and 
the  audience  seemed  to  realize  that  they  were  not 
merely  listeners,  but  witnesses  of  an  historic  event 
never  to  be  repeated.  So  impressed  were  they  that, 
at  the  close,  they  unanimously  voted  to  publish  the 
entire  proceeding's  of  the  evening-  as  a further  con- 
tribution of  the  Association  to  the  educational  his- 
tory of  Illinois. 

Executive  Committee  : 

W.  L.  Stkkfk,  Galesburg-,  111. 

Miss  Martha  Buck,  Carbondale,  111. 

David  Fklmuky,  Normal,  111. 


Galesburg^  IIL^  March^  i8g8. 


K.  A.  Gastman, 

( Supt.  of  Schools,  Decatur,  111.,) 
PRESIDING  OFFICER. 


When  the  experience  of  the  race  becomes  that  of  every  individual, — 
when  every  man  moves  step  by  step  to  the  ^rand  music  of  human 
prog’ress, — when  ever^*  man’s  now  is  his  g'olden  moment,  the  brig’htest 
and  be.st  in  his  experience, — the  most  redolent  of  g-ood  deeds  and  noble 
purposes;  it  will  require  no  additional  leg’islation  to  establish  among" 
men  the  true,  the  never  ending  millenium. — Edxvards. 


Hon.  Richard  Edwards,  D.  D.,  EE.  I). 


THE  PRESIDENT’S  INTRODUCTION  OF 
DR.  EDWARDS. 


There  has  been  much  speculation  about  the  name 
that  should  be  ^iven  to  the  exercises  of  this  evening-. 
Some  have  insisted  that  it  was  ‘‘a  collection  of 
fossils,”  others  that  it  was  a displa}^  intended  to 
illustrate  “the  social  life  of  past  historic  g-enera- 
tions,”  but  others  more  thoug-htful  and  kindl}"  in 
speech,  have  called  it  the  “gathering-  of  the  snow 
birds.”  And  I now  take  very  great  pleasure  in 
introducing  to  you  one  of  the  most  illustrious  of 
the  flock.  Dr.  Richard  Edwards. 


ADDRESS  OF  DR.  EDWARDS. 


I UNDERSTAND  the  purpose  of  this  sympos- 
ium to  be  the  bringing-  up  of  some  of  the 
characteristics  of  the  olden  time  education, 
and  the  comparing  of  them  with  modern  conditions. 
It  is  fair  to  presume  that  those  who  take  part  in 
the  discussion  are  to  recall  their  earliest  educa- 
tional experience.  In  my  own  case,  this  will  neces- 
sitate going  beyond  the  boundary  of  the  United 
States.  At  the  age  of  seven  or  eight  years  I became 
a pupil  in  one  of  the  old  country  schools  for  chil- 
dren. The  spoken  language  of  the  people  was  not 
the  English,  but  it  was  considered  the  proper  thing, 
in  teaching  the  children,  to  use  English  books,  and 
also  as  much  of  the  English  speech  as  they  could  be 
induced  to  remember.  The  English  New  Testament 
was  very  early  introduced  as  a reading  book.  In  the 
pronunciation  of  words  we  were  not  enslaved  by 
English  custom.  No  one  seemed  to  think  that  we 
ought  to  understand  the  thought  in  what  we  read, 
except,  possibly,  in  a very  vague  and  general  way. 
The  significance  of  only  a very  few  English  words 
was  known  to  us.  Among  the  matters  which  we 
were  required  to  commit  to  memory,  was  the  cate- 
chism of  the  established  church.  But  as  already 
stated,  it  conveyed  no  meaning  to  us.  We  repeated 

9 


10 


“OUK  PlI.GKIM  tATHKKS.” 


it  with  our  peculiar  pronunciation,  and  all  seemed 
to  be  satisfied  with  our  performance.  In  order  to 
relieve  ourselves  of  the  monotony  of  unintellig-ible 
repetition,  we  sometimes  took  the  liberty  of*  con- 
verting- the  prose  into  metrical  feet.  Sometimes 
the  number  of  syllables  in  the  sentence  did  not 
meet  the  metrical  demands.  But  this  difficult}"  was 
easily  overcome.  We  inserted  an  additional  syl- 
lable, or  clipped  a syllable,  as  the  emerg-ency  mig-ht 
require.  The  teacher,  also,  had  v"ery  frequent  use 
for  his  implement  of  punishment.  If  sparing-  the 
rod  is  the  only  way  of  spoiling-  children,  we  were 
not  spoiled. 

After  an  interval  of  some  forty  years,  I revisited 
the  scenes  of  this  early  experience,  and  saw  the 
schools  that  had  taken  the  place  of  these  early  ones. 
There  had  been  a revolution.  Blackboards  were  in 
use.  It  was  clear  that  the  children  understood  the 
import  of  the  lang-uag-e  which  they  spoke.  I took 
the  liberty  to  question  the  boys  as  to  the  meaning- 
of  certain  Eng-lish  sentences.  Their  answers  were 
clear  and  accurate.  They  could  readily  translate 
the  meaning-  into  their  mother  tong-ue.  I also  met 
my  old  school-master,  then  enfeebled  by  the  weight 
of  years.  I had  a kindly  memory  of  him,  for,  al- 
though I had  not  escaped  the  flagellations  which 
were  considered  so  important  a part  of  our  educa- 


AddkKvSS  of  Dk.  Edwards. 


11 


tion,  I remembered  that  in  my  case  they  had  com- 
monly been  laid  on  with  a lig-ht  and  kindly  hand. 
The  effect  of  kindness  was  not  lost,  even  amid  the 
g-rotesque  methods  of  that  early  time. 

My  next  experience  with  schools  was  in  the  state 
of  Ohio,  on  the  Western  Reserve,  among  the  people 
who  had  brought  with  them  to  their  new  abodes, 
the  institutions  and  customs  of  the  state  of  Connec- 
ticut. The  usage  in  respect  to  the  paying  of  tuition 
fees  among  the  people  did  not  appear  to  be  the 
same  in  all  schools.  In  some  of  them  such  fees 
were  collected,  and  in  others  they  were  not.  I con- 
tent myself  with  a partial  description  of  one  school 
of  which  I was  a pupil.  The  teacher  ^vas  a farmer, 
who  cultivated  his  acres  in  the  summer,  and  wielded 
the  rod  in  the  winter.  The  house  was  built  of  logs. 
The  chihking  and  daubing  had  not  been  thoroughly 
done.  The  cold  air  in  winter  had  a reasonably  free 
access  into  the  room.  Holes  had  been  bored  into 
the  logs  at  an  angle  of  about  60  degrees  with  the 
vertical  wall,  and  small  branches  of  trees  had  been 
driven  into  them.  Each  of  these  had  been  so  cut 
that  a small  stem  was  left  near  the  outer  end  of  it, 
which  served  to  keep  in  place  the  boards  that  took 
the  place  of  desks.  The  seats  were  made  of  slabs 
through  which  holes  had  been  bored  for  supports. 
The  sticks  which  were  used  for  this  latter  purpose 


12 


“OuH  Pii.(;kim  Fathers. ” 


often  came  throug'h  the  slabs  in  such  a way  as  to 
interfere  with  the  comfort  of  sitting-.  When  a pupil 
was  writing-,  he  sat  with  his  face  towards  the  wall. 
This  involved  a lifting-  of  the  feet  over  the  puncheon 
bench.  But  when  the  writing-  was  done,  and  he 
was  called  upon  to  recite,  it  was  necessary  to  lift 
the  feet  once  more  over  the  slab  seats  and  lay  them 
down  on  the  front  side.  This  adjustment  was  for 
the  older  pupils,  who  were  learning-  to  write.  The 
smaller  ones  sat  in  long-  seats  near  the  middle  of 
the  floor,  at  a lower  level  than  the  others.  The 
effect  of  the  more  or  less  open  cracks  between  the 
log-s  was  somewhat  neutralized  by  an  immense  fire- 
place at  the  end  of  the  room,  where  a vast  amount 
of  wood  was  consumed.  Of,  course,  that  part  of 
the  room  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  fire,  ex- 
perienced an  intense  deg-ree  of  heat,  while  the  re- 
moter part  mig-ht  be  uncomfortably  cold.  I remem- 
ber that  one  day,  a lig-ht  haired  little  boy,  of  8 or  9 
years,  named  Jacob  Keg-ley,  who  sat  at  the  torrid 
end  of  the  bench,  announced  to  the  teacher  in  re- 
spectful tones,  that  he  was  “g-etting-  too  hot.”  The 
answer  was,  “Jacob,  when  you  too  hot,  let  me 
know.” 

I remember  that  in  this  school  a very  larg-e  part 
of  the  work  was  done  by  each  pupil  by  himself. 
There  were  classes  in  reading-,  and  also  in  spelling-. 


AddreSvS  of  Dr.  KdwarDvS. 


13 


but  I do  not  recall  any  other  g-rouping-  of  individuals 
into  a class.  I think  the  Three  R’s  included  all 
that  was  taug*ht  us.  Neither  Eng-lish  g-rammar  nor 
g’eog’raphy  was  taug’ht.  But  I remember  that  a cer- 
tain young-  man,  older  than  the  majority  of  us,  was 
called  up  every  day  for  a reading-  exercise  by  him- 
self. In  some  way  he  had  secured  a book  which 
must  have  had  something-  of  the  character  of  a work 
on  g-eography.  And  I can  distinctly  recall  some  of 
the  young  man’s  pronunciations.  One  day  he  was 
reading  an  account  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 
Among  other  things,  some  of  the  public  institutions 
of  the  city  were  named.  In  his  loud  and  monoto- 
nous tones,  he  proceeded  to  tell  us  that  that  city 
contained  a certain  number  of  “hostabels,”  by 
which  he  meant  hospitals.  I think  there  was  no 
correction  of  his  peculiar  rendering  of  that  word. 

But  it  must  not  be  inferred  that  nothing  was 
learned  in  these  schools.  Practical  knowledge  of 
arithmetic  was  gained.  A sufficient  familiarity 
with  English  words  was  secured  to  enable  the  pu- 
pils to  read  newspapers,  and  to  serve  as  a basis  for 
further  and  more  accurate  acquisitions.  I would 
not  imply  that  newspapers,  at  that  time,  and  in  that 
community,  were  very  common.  The  fact  was 
quite  otherwise.  Still  it  was  true  that  occasionally 
one  might  be  seen.  And  when  dictionaries  came  to 


14 


“OuK  Pii.GKiM  Fathers.” 


be  used,  many  of  the  young-  people  taug-ht  in  these 
schools,  beg-an  to  acquire  more  accurate  forms  of 
pronunciation. 

The  schools  to  which  I have  been  referring-  were 
the  country  schools.  In  the  larger  towns  more 
prog-ress  had  been  made.  In  the  town  of  Ravenna, 
the  county  seat  of  Portag-e  County,  the  public  school 
was  quite  in  advance  of  this  rural  establishment  to 
which  I have  referred.  Eng-lish  Grammar  was 
taug-ht.  Also  Geog-raphy.  Eng-lish  Composition 
was  one  of  the  reg-ular  exercises.  A reasonably 
correct  pronunciation  of  Eng-lish  words  was  insisted 
upon.  The  dictionary  became  a necessity.  The 
teacher  of  this  school  engag-ed  in  his  work  with 
great  enthusiasm.  He  was  a somewhat  erratic 
man,  but  I am  very  sure  that  his  personal  influence 
over  the  boys  and  girls  under  his  charge  was  very 
helpful  to  them.  I believe  that  he  possessed  the 
spirit  of  the  true  teacher. 

In  the  rural  schools  the  qualifications  of  the 
teacher  were  not  very  rigorously  considered.  The 
examination  appears  to  have  been  conducted  by  the 
authority  of  the  county.  I have  in  my  possession 
a certificate  which  was  granted  me  on  the  10th  day 
of  November,  1843.  The  school  which  I was  to 
teach  was  in  the  country.  But  the  Examining 
Board  had  their  headquarters  at  the  county  seat. 


AddrEvSS  ok  Dr.  EdwarDvS. 


15 


In  this  paper  it  is  declared  that  I was  qualified  to 
teach  reading*,  writing*  and  arithmetic,  and  also 
Eng*lish  g*rammar  and  g*eog*raphy.  The  sig*ner  of 
the  paper  was,  at  that  time,  a man  of  prominence, 
and  afterwards  became  Chief  Justice  of  the  state  of 
Ohio.  He  sig*ns  the  certificate  as  the  Clerk  of  the 
Board  of  Examiners. 

Let  us  pause  for  a moment  and  take  note  of  three 
thing*s  in  respect  to  these  early  schools.  First,  let 
us  consider  their  physical  surrounding*s.  These  we 
should  pronounce  unfit,  ill  adapted  to  the  purpose 
for  which  schools  are  established.  But  we  must  re- 
member that  these  physical  surrounding*s  were  in- 
cident to  the  existing*  conditions.  It  mig-ht  be  said 
that  they  were  incident  to  a certain  inferior  state  of 
civilization.  But  this  statement  would  impl}^  a 
falsehood.  These  dwellers  among*  the  forests  of 
the  Western  Reserve  were  not  barbarians.  They 
were  men  and  women  whose  ideals  of  life  were 
worthy  of  imitation.  Nor  were  they  lacking*  in 
knowledg*e.  In  certain  lines,  at  least,  they  were 
sturdy  thinkers.  Their  undeveloped  physical  sur- 
rounding's were  merely  an  incident  in  their  career. 
And  they  were  not  long*  in  so  chang*ing*  these  sur- 
rounding's as  to  make  them  fit  appendag*es  to  the 
hig*hest  culture.  In  considering*  the  important  ques- 
tions involved,  therefore,  it  seems  to  me  that  we 


16 


“OuK  Pilgrim  Fathkks.” 


may  say  that  the  physical  surrounding’s  were  of  lit- 
tle sig’nificance.  Indeed,  in  some  respects  they  were 
a help  rather  than  a hindrance  to  the  development 
of  what  is  noblest  in  man  and  woman.  The  noblest 
and  most  cultured  men  on  earth  may  dwell  for  a 
nig-ht  amid  the  roug-hness  and  wildness  of  the  most 
undeveloped  wilderness.  The  exposure  only  makes 
them  strong-er  for  future  achievement. 

The  next  point  relates  to  the  educational  methods. 
These,  it  must  be  confessed,  were  in  some  respects 
inferior.  They  had  not  been  carefully  thoug’ht  out. 
There  was  no  well  developed  system,  either  of  ped- 
ag’og’y  or  of  school  administration.  In  that  partic- 
ular, therefore,  we  may  justly  claim  that  there  has 
been  prog’ress.  The  work  of  education  has  been 
systematized.  The  laws  of  mental  and  moral  g-rowth 
are  more  clearly  and  systematically  stated.  But  I 
doubt  whether  they  are  more  clearly  apprehended 
than  they  were  by  some  of  the  old  fashioned  school 
masters. 

The  third  point  to  which  I wish  to  call  attention 
is,  the  personality  of  the  teacher.  And  in  this  re- 
spect many  of  the  old  schools  were  quite  equal  to 
anything-  we  have  to-day.  I say  many  of  them,  for 
not  every  school-master  of  the  old  reg-ime  was  worthy 
of  his  vocation.  But  it  seems  to  me  that  in  the  sturdy 
love  of  the  truth ; in  the  exercise  of  a g-entle  sympathy 


Address  of  Dk.  Edwards. 


17 


for  the  young*  in  their  labors  and  trials;  in  a clear 
apprehension  of  the  needs  of  childhood,  and  of  the 
best  way  of  supplying*  these  needs;  in  the  ability  to 
discern  the  rig*ht  thing  to  be  done  in  an  enierg*ency; 
the  best  teachers  of  sixty  years  ag*o  could  have  held 
their  own  with  those  of  to-day.  I do  not  forget 
that  distance  may  lend  enchantment  to  the  view, 
but  as  I recall  some  of  the  men  and  women  who 
were  eng*ag*ed  in  educational  work  at  that  time,  I 
am  profoundly  impressed  with  their  hig*h  moral  and 
intellectual  worth.  And  this  fact  was  the  salvation 
of  those  early  schools.  It  was  this  that  g*ave  inspir” 
ation  to  so  many  of  the  young*  men  and  young* 
women  who  since  that  day  have  become  eminent  in 
all  the  higher  departments  of  life.  In  truth  may  I 
not  say  that  this  is  the  mightiest  element  in  educa- 
tion? May  I not  say  that  under  all  circumstances 
the  right  kind  of  a man  is  worth  more  than  the  sys- 
tem, however  well  developed  this  latter  may  be. 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  teacher  in  those  ancient 
schools  to  devote  a certain  portion  of  every  session 
to  private  interviews  with  the  pupils  concerning 
their  difficulties  in  arithmetic  and  other  studies.  In 
these  interviews  a free  conversation  was  carried  on, 
the  teacher  by  questions  ascertaining  wherein  the 
pupil  found  himself  unequal  to  the  work.  I think 
the  usual  topic  discussed  was  arithmetic.  Methods 


18 


“(3uk  Pii.gkim  P^atheks.” 


of  solving’  the  difficult  problems  were  suggested. 
The  application  of  the  rules  laid  down  in  the  book 
was  pointed  out.  Very  often  encouraging  words 
were  spoken  to  such  pupils  as  needed  them.  This 
was  certainly  a redeeming  trait  in  the  old  system. 
And  may  it  not  be  true  that  if  we  could,  in  our  own 
times,  modify  our  rigorous  classification  of  pupils  so 
as  to  restore  something  of  this  old  time  method,  we 
should  make  an  improvement  in  existing  conditions? 
Is  there  not  in  our  time  some  danger  that  the  indi- 
vidual shall  be  submerged  in  the  system?  Does  not 
the  highest  ideal  of  education  involve  something  of 
the  old-time  contact  of  mind  with  mind? 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  connected  with  the 
early  normal  school  movements  in  the  State  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. When  that  connection  began,  the  first 
school,  that  at  Lexington,  had  been  in  operation 
four  or  five  years,  but  it  was  a time  of  severe  trial 
for  the  normal  schools.  A great  majority  of  the 
educated  classes  of  that  State  were  opposed  to  them. 
The  college  graduates,  as  a whole,  were  thoroughly 
committed  to  the  principle  that  if  the  teacher  un- 
derstood the  subject  which  he  was  to  teach,  he  was 
qualified  for  the  work.  ‘Tf  you  know  Latin,  you 
can  teach  Latin,”  was  a maxim  which  I have  heard 
repeated  many  times.  This  condition  of  things 
necessitated  great  earnestness  and  great  persistency 


AddrEvSvS  of  Dr.  EdwarDvS. 


19 


in  those  who  were  conducting*  these  Normal  schools. 
The  memory  of  those  days  are  very  inspiring*.  It 
seemed  as  if  the  very  situation  had  the  effect  of  up- 
lifting* and  ennobling*  the  men  and  women  who 
taug*ht  in  the  teachers’  schools.  When  we  are  sail- 
ing* with  the  current  we  do  not  feel  called  upon  to 
put  forth  our  mig*htiest  efforts  at  the  oars.  If  we 
know  that  we  are  carried  forward  by  the  surround- 
ing* forces,  w^e  hold  our  powers  in  suspense.  Resis- 
tance, on  the  contrary,  awakens  our  dormant  ener- 
g*ies.  The  consequence  is  that  an  honorable  list 
mig*ht  be  made  of  men  and  women,  who  were  de- 
veloped into  heroes  by  the  demands  made  upon  them 
as  pioneers  in  the  normal  school  work  in  Massachu- 
setts. Among*  them  a few  stand  preeminent.  Hor- 
ace Mann,  Cyrus  Peirce,  Nicholas  Tilling*hast,  de- 
serve to  have  their  memories  preserved,  both  on 
account  of  their  worth  as  men,  and  of  the  valuable 
service  which  they  rendered  to  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion. 

It  would  be  very  pleasant  as  well  as  instructive  to 
consider  some  of  the  facts  connected  with  the  prog*- 
ress  of  education  in  Illinois  from  the  establishment 
of  the  free  school  law  in  1854  to  the  founding*  of  the 
State  University  in  1867.  But  the  time  forbids.  I 
may  however  say  that  there  were  men  connected 
with  that  whole  movement  who  deserve  to  have 


20 


“OuK  PiLGKiM  Fathers.” 


their  names  held  in  honorable  remembrance.  When 
these  men  beg-an  their  labors,  the  state  of  Illinois 
was  not  in  the  front  rank,  educationally,  among  the 
states  of  the  Union.  To-day  she  is  abreast  of  the 
foremost.  This  great  advance  was  not  accom- 
plished without  labor,  and  the  labor  was  not  per- 
formed without  a high  degree  of  faith  and  hope  and 
courage. 

To  elevate  the  ideals  of  a whole  community 
in  respect  to  a question  so  important  as  this,  to 
induce  the  people  to  devote  their  time  and  labor  and 
money  to  the  carrying  forward  of  the  enterprise, 
involves  the  practice  of  all  the  heroic  virtues.  It 
may  be  invidious  to  designate  a single  man  as  hav- 
ing been  preeminently  a leader  in  so  magnificent  a 
movement,  but  I think  our  sense  of  justice  will  not 
be  shocked  if  I take  the  liberty  of  naming  in  this 
connection  Prof.  Jonathan  B.  Turner  of  Jackson- 
ville. He  was  a steadfast  advocate  of  a State  Uni- 
versity and  of  an  institution  for  the  training  of 
teachers  for  the  public  schools.  He  and  the  noble 
men  and  women  who  wrought  with  him,  were  not 
impelled  by  selfish  motives  in  what  they  did.  They 
sought  to  set  in  motion  the  forces  that  would  be 
most  potent  in  developing  the  intelligence  and  vir- 
tue of  the  mass  of  the  people.  And  this  is  a kind 
of  labor  that  not  only  raises  the  grade  of  ordinary 


Address  of  Dr.  Edwards. 


21 


humanity,  but  in  a special  manner  ennobles  those 
who  carry  it  forward. 

I have  said  that  these  g*reat  intellectual  and  moral 
chang-es  are  not  easy  of  attainment.  If  this  propo- 
sition is  doubted,  the  evidence  of  its  truth  can  be 
abundantly  furnished  in  the  personal  testimony  of 
the  men  and  women  who  lived  among*  the  scenes  to 
which  we  refer.  Go  back  to  the  year  1862,  a period 
which  had  witnessed  already  much  prog-ress,  and 
what  do  we  find  as  to  the  condition  of  the  public 
sentiment  ? All  over  the  state  of  Illinois  there  was 
a powerful  feeling  of  hostility  to  the  normal  school 
already  established,  and  to  the  proposed  State  Uni- 
versity. In  the  year  just  named  great  numbers  of 
the  educational  men  of  the  state  had  enlisted  as 
soldiers.  Their  higher  intelligence  had  taught 
them  the  value  of  the  Union  whose  life  was  threat- 
ened. In  some  cases  it  seemed  as  if  their  absence 
from  their  homes  had  developed  the  feeling  in  some 
minds  that  che  cause  of  education  could  be  more 
effectually  resisted.  A wave  of  opposition  to  edu- 
cational progress  seemed  in  danger  of  flooding  the 
state.  There  was  prophecy  of  disaster  to  the  new 
movements.  I remember  that  while  these  clouds 
were  floating  in  the  air,  a gentleman  of  some  prom- 
inence assured  me  in  private  conversation  that  the 
people  of  McLean  County  would  soon  have  the  nor- 


22 


“OuK  Pii.GKiM  Fathp:ks.” 


mal  school  building*  for  a corn  crib.  But  the  effect 
of  these  trying*  experiences  was  to  stimulate  the 
friends  of  education  at  home  to  g*reater  activity,  and 
the  final  result  was  that  for  the  next  twenty  years 
the  prog*ress  made  in  education  in  the  State  of  Illi- 
nois exceeded  the  hopes  of  the  majority  of  educa- 
tional workers. 

A paper  is  to  be  read  this  evening*  by  our  friend, 
Dr.  Willard,  upon  the  life  and  services  of  Newton 
Bateman.  I have  no  doubt  that  the  subject  will  be 
justly  and  adequately  presented.  But  I have  a 
strong*  desire  in  these  closing*  sentences  of  my  paper 
to  refer  to  that  disting-uished  man.  I shall  not  take 
time  to  set  forth  his  character,  his  attainments,  or 
his  influence  upon  the  educational  life  of  the  State 
of  Illinois.  But  I wish  simply  to  express  the  sense 
of  my  profound  personal  oblig*ation  to  him.  In  the 
trying*  da3"s  to  which  I have  already  referred,  when 
g*rave  doubts  were  entertained  as  to  the  success  of 
the  normal  school  enterprise  in  this  state,  and  when 
men  and  women  connected  with  that  institution 
were  putting*  their  whole  lives  into  the  work  before 
them,  Newton  Bateman  was  always  their  staunch 
friend.  His  reports  contain  words  of  encourag*e- 
ment  and  inspiration.  Month  by  month  and  year 
])y  year  g*ave  us  the  help  of  his  public  approval  and 
personal  sui)i)ort.  How  much  his  words  may  have 


AddrEvSS  of  Dk.  Edwards. 


23 


influenced  the  final  result,  no  one  can  tell.  But 
they  were  certainly  a potent  factor.  In  the  name 
of  the  Normal  University,  and  of  the  thousands  who 
have  gone  forth  from  it,  strengthened  and  uplifted 
by  his  words  and  his  example,  I beg  leave  to  lay 
this  simple  leaflet  upon  his  honored  tomb. 


That  soul  is  blest,  in  dark  or  sunny  hours, 
That  toils,  and  trusts  and  sing's. 

— Ilevjett. 


Edwin  C.  Hkwett,  A.  M.,  EE.  D, 


THE  PRESIDENT’S  INTRODUCTION  OP^ 
DR.  HEWETT. 


It  is  nearly  forty  years  ag’o  when  the  bo3^s  and 
g-irls  in  the  dear  old  Normal  School  at  Blooming-ton 
g-athered  one  Monda}^  morning-  in  the  Assembly 
room  and  beg-an  to  discuss  “the  new  teacher.” 
“Where  is  he?”  ran  from  lip  to  lip.  “Don’t  you 
see  up  there  on  the  platform?”  “What!  that  little 
bit  of  a fellow?”  And  witty  but  mischievous  Matt 
Marble  said  to  the  g-irls,  “if  he  does  not  behave 
himself  I will  put  him  in  Enoch’s  overcoat  pocket 
and  have  him  carried  off.”  Ladies  and  g-entlemen, 
permit  me  to  introduce  the  “new  teacher,”  Dr. 
Edwin  C.  Hewett. 


ADDRESS  OF  DR.  HEWETT. 


■m  T^Y  LIFE  beg-an  among-  the  hills  of  one  of 
I y I the  roug-hest  and  poorest  parts  of  Worcester 
/ county,  Massachusetts;  and  in  that  vicinity 
all  my  boyhood  was  spent.  The  common,  district 
schools  afforded  the  only  opportunities  for  education 
that  I enjoyed  until  I was  about  twenty  years  old. 
And  the  memories  of  those  old  schools  are  among- 
the  most  vivid  and  the  most  pleasant  recollections 
of  my  youth.  I suppose  the  schools  w^hich  I attend- 
ed were  pretty  fair  representatives  of  the  common, 
district  schools  of  New  Eng-land  sixty  years  ag*o.  I 
presume  the  common  schools  in  the  larg-e  towns  and 
cities  may  have  been  somewhat  better  than  they 
were;  but  I never  knew  much  about  them  from 
personal  observation. 

The  public  schools  were  wholly  under  the  man- 
ag-ement  of  the  several  towns.  I am  not  aware  that 
there  was  anything-  whatever  like  an  educational 
department  in  the  State  Government;  I am  sure 
that  there  was  no  representation  of  educational 
affairs  in  the  g-overnment  of  the  county,  nor  is 
there  to  this  day.  In  New  Eng-land,  the  counties 
have  always  played  a subordinate  part  in  the  ma- 
chinery of  g-overnment.  The  towns,  or  townships 

27 


28 


•‘(JuK  Pii,(;kim  Fathkks.” 


as  perhaps  we  should  be  inclined  to  say,  have  been 
of  first  importance  from  the  earliest  times. 

Each  year,  at  the  regular  town-meeting  in  March, 
the  citizens  determined  by  vote  how  much  money 
the  town  should  raise  by  tax  for  the  support  of 
schools  during  the  year.  At  the  same  time,  they 
also  chose  a town  school-committee,  usually  three 
in  number,  who  licensed  the  teachers,  and  who  had 
the  general  supervision  of  the  schools.  Almost 
without  exception,  one  or  more  of  the  ministers  of 
the  town  were  chosen  on  that  committee.  Each  of 
the  several  districts  chose  a man,  called  a pruden- 
tial committee,  whose  business  it  was  to  hire  the 
teacher,  provide  fuel  and  other  supplies,  attend  to 
the  repairs  of  the  school  house,  etc. 

Usually,  only  two  terms  of  the  school  were  held 
in  the  year — a summer  term  taught  by  a woman, 
beginning  about  May,  and  a winter  term,  beginning 
almost  invariably  on  the  “Monday  after  Thanks- 
giving.” About  eleven  or  twelve  weeks  was  the 
usual  length  of  a term,  although  I remember  one 
term  that  was  only  four  weeks  long.  The  summer 
term  was  commonly  attended  only  by  the  small 
children  and  a few  of  the  larger  girls.  But,  usually 
nearly  all  the  young  people  of  the  district,  up  to  the 
age  of  eighteen  or  more,  attended  the  winter  term. 
The  teachers  in  the  winter,  with  very  few  excep- 


AddrEvSS  of  Dk.  Hewktt. 


29 


tions,  were  men;  and  thirty  dollars  a month  and 
board  was  accounted  a g-ood  salary.  The  women 
who  taug-ht  in  the  summer  often  received  no  more 
than  a dollar  and  a half  a week,  or  even  less. 
Sometimes  the  teachers  “boarded  around;”  but,  in 
my  childhood,  that  custom  was  nearly  g-one  out  of 
fashion. 

The  country  school  houses  were  commonly  small 
structures  of  wood  or  brick,  at  the  cross-roads,  un- 
shaded and  bleak;  they  were  sometimes  painted  red. 
A larg*e  box  stove  in  the  center  of  the  room  roasted 
the  pupils  on  one  side,  while  drafts  of  wintry  air 
from  windows  and  chinks  chilled  them  on  the  other. 
The  fires  were  built  each  morning-  by  the  boys, 
taking-  “turns.”  Well  do  I remember  my  experi- 
ence as  a boy  of  ten  years,  in  g’oing-  from  my  home, 
a mile  throug-h  the  snow,  to  build  the  fire  in  time 
to  have  the  school  house  warmed  at  nine  o’clock. 
It  was  a point  of  honor  to  accomplish  this,  for  pub- 
lic sentiment  in  the  school  was  very  severe  on  the 
lazy  fellow  who  failed  to  perform  this  duty  thor- 
oug-hly  when  his  “turn”  came.  Of  apparatus, 
blackboards,  wall  maps,  charts,  dictionaries,  refer- 
ence books,  etc.,  there  was  almost  none;  some 
school  rooms  had  a small  board  about  two  feet 
square,  painted  black,  on  which  work  was  done  with 
lumps  of  common  chalk. 


30 


“OuH  Pilgrim  Fathers.” 


Text-books  were  few  and  rude  and,  although 
some  particular  kind  was  desig*nated  for  use,  there 
was  a “plentiful  lack”  of  uniformity.  The  g-enial 
text-book  ag-ent  had  not  jet  “put  in  an  appearance.” 
Among-  the  text-books  that  I remember  using-,  were 
Webster’s  Speller,  Cumming-s’s  Speller,  The  Ameri- 
can First-class  Book,  The  National  Reader,  Por- 
ter’s Rhetorical  Reader,  The  Intellig-ent  Reader, 
Smith’s  Arithmetic,  Emerson’s  Arithmetics,  “Peter 
Parley’s”  Geog-raphy,  Olnej’s  (ieog-raphy  and  Atlas, 
Smith’s  Grammar,  etc. 

Nearly  all  the  text-books  were  constructed  on  the 
plan  of  question  and  answer;  and  in  g-eog-raphj,  g-ram- 
mar  and  history,  little  was  done  in  recitation,  but 
for  the  teacher  to  ask  the  printed  question  and  the 
pupil  to  reply  in  the  exact  words  of  the  text.  As 
these  printed  answers  were  often  long-er  than  we 
liked  to  commit  to  memory,  only  a part,  which 
would  make  a frag-mentary  but  intellig-ible  answer 
to  the  teacher’s  question,  was  commonly  learned. 
We  often  set  off,  by  penciled  brackets,  the  words 
that  would  serve  this  purpose;  and  a text-book  that 
had  been  much  used  was  sure  to  be  “edited”  in  this 
way. 

What  I have  just  said  will  indicate  what  was  the 
g-eneral  “method  of  teaching-.”  The  young-est  pu- 
pils were  called  up  to  the  teacher  twice  a day  or 


AddrKvSvS  of  Dr.  Hkwktt. 


31 


oftener,  to  “say  their  letters.”  This  they  did  in 
rotation,  as  the  teacher  pointed  with  his  pen  knife 
to  the  several  letters  in  order,  in  the  speller.  After 
the  child  could  say  his  letters,  he  was  put  into  the 
a,  b,  ab’s,  then  into  the  reading-  of  short  sentences 
in  the  spelling-  book.  The  spelling-  classes  usually 
came  out  on  to  the  floor,  “toed  the  mark,”  and 
“spelled  for  the  head.”  I never  knew  a written  ex- 
ercise in  spelling-.  In  g-eog-raphy,  history  and 
g-rammar,  the  pupils  commonly  recited  by  classes, 
in  the  way  I have  already  indicated.  In  g-rammar, 
much  of  the  time  was  g-iven  to  parsing-;  for  this 
purpose,  the  “Essay  on  Man,”  or  “Paradise  Lost,” 
often  furnished  the  text.  In  arithmetic,  many  of 
the  pupils,  especially  the  older  ones,  worked  inde- 
pendently; the  teacher  would  g-o  to  the  pupil’s  seat 
occasionally,  to  see  how  he  g-ot  on,  to  ask  a question 
or  two,  or  to  assist  in  doing-  a “hard  sum.”  In 
writing,  also,  each  pupil  worked  by  himself.  His 
copy-book  was  made  of  a few  sheets  of  paper, 
bought  at  the  “store”  and  sewed  together  at  home; 
his  copies  were  set  by  the  teacher;  he  furnished  his 
own  inF:,  often  home-made;  and  his  pen  was  a quill 
sharpened  by  the  teacher.  He  wrote  whenever  he 
chose,  and  for  as  long  a time  as  he  pleased. 

The  style  of  government  in  these  schools  depend- 
ed entirely  upon  the  intelligence,  judicial  acumen 


32 


“(JuK  Fathp:ks.” 


and  muscular  streng-th  of  the  individual  teacher. 
Usually,  however,  the  rod  or  ferule  played  a larg-e 
part;  it  was  a very  common  thing-  to  see  the  teacher 
marching-  about  the  room  with  one  or  the  other  of 
these  persuaders  under  his  arm;  and  it  was  not 
there  merely  for  an  ornament,  but  was  often  used 
to  g-ive  promiscuous  blows  upon  supposed  offenders. 
Severe  flog-g-ing-s,  always  in  the  presence  of  the 
school,  were  common.  Sometimes,  on  such  occa- 
sions, if  the  pupil  was  larg-e  or  plucky,  resistance 
was  shown,  and  a very  “pretty  fig-ht”  was  the  re- 
sult. If  the  pupil  did  not  see  fit  to  fig'ht,  he  could 
show  his  pluck  in  another  way, — that  is,  by  receiv- 
ing- his  punishment  with  the  stoicism  of  a wild  In- 
dian. Brutal  punishments,  like  pulling-  the  hair, 
slapping-  the  face,  holding-  out  a book  at  arm’s 
leng-th,  “holding-  a nail  in  the  floor,”  etc.,  were  not 
uncommon. 

The  winter  term  of  the  district  school  was  a g-reat 
affair  in  the  district.  As  I have  said,  most  of  the 
larg-e  boys  and  g-irls — young-  men  and  women — at- 
tended; often  such  a school,  under  a sing-le  master, 
would  number  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  pupils, — 
ages  ranging  from  four  to  twenty-one,  and  studies 
from  a,  b,  c,  to  Latin  and  geometry.  The  daily  ses- 
sion, almost  always,  opened  with  a reading  in 
course  from  the  New  Testament;  each  pupil  from 


AddrkSvS  of  Dr.  Hewktt. 


oo 


the  hig-her  classes  stood  up  at  his  seat  in  turn,  and 
read  two  verses;  meanwhile,  the  teacher  often 
mended  pens,  or  mended  the  fire.  When  the  read- 
ing- was  done,  the  teacher  followed  it  with  an  ex- 
tempore prayer,  if  he  chose  to  do  so;  there  were  no 
‘‘reg-ulations  of  the  Board,”  as  to  relig-ious  exer- 
cises,— nor,  g-enerally,  as  to  anything-  else.  The 
singing  of  a song-  or  hymn,  at  the  opening-  exer- 
cises— or  at  any  other  time  — was  a very  rare 
occurrence. 

During-  the  winter,  skating-  and  coasting-  frolics 
by  day,  and  spelling-  and  writing-  schools  by  nig-ht, 
were  very  frequent.  Around  such  affairs,  the  social 
life  of  the  neighborhood  larg-ely  centered;  and  here 
the  preliminaries  of  many  a matrimonial  eng-ag-e- 
ment  were  adjusted.  At  the  close  of  the  term,  the 
committee,  the  minister,  and  the  leading-  citizens 
usually  gathered  at  the  school  house;  the  pupils 
“spoke  pieces”  and,  perhaps,  read  compositions;  and 
the  dignitaries  spoke  pieces,  too,  praising  the  pu- 
pils, extolling  their  wonderful  privileges,  and  re- 
minding them  that  every  one  stood  a'  chance  of 
becoming  President. 

I have,  perhaps,  dwelt  too  long  on  the  old  New 
England,  district  school;  but,  with  all  its  crudeness, 
hardships  and  meager  advantages,  I remember  it 
lovingly, — I can  now  see,  in  m}^  mind’s  eye,  how  the 


34 


“OUK  PlI.GKIM  FaTHKKS.” 


white  road  wound  its  half-mile  up  the  hill  when  I 
trudg-ed  over  it,  not  five  years  old,  one  summer 
morning,  to  enter  such  a school  for  the  first  time. 
I remember  how  the  room  looked  to  me,  I remember 
many  of  the  pupils  seated  on  the  low  seats;  I 
remember  the  pink  apron  of  the  teacher;  and  the 
scenes  of  the  old  district  school  fill  a large  place  in 
my  memory,  from  that  time  till  at  sixteen  I ceased 
to  be  a pupil  in  such  a school.  And  the  memories 
of  pupil  days  are  supplemented  by  later  memories 
of  two  winters  when  I acted  the  part  of  master. 

I must  not  omit  saying  a few  words  about  the 
numerous  ‘‘Select  Schools”  and  Academies  of  those 
days.  These  were  all  in  the  hands  of  independent 
managers;  the  Select  Schools  were  usually  opened 
and  conducted  by  any  who  chose,  and  who  could  se- 
cure patronage.  In  many  of  these  institutions, 
most  excellent  work  was  done,  not  on  account  of 
the  system, — for  system,  there  was  none,^ — but  be- 
cause of  the  ability,  insight,  culture,  and  devotion 
of  those  who  taught.  But  it  cost  money  to  at- 
tend these  schools,  and  money  was  not  plenty  with 
the  farmer  folk  of  New  England,  in  those  days. 
Here  and  there  a boy  or  girl,  by  the  help  of  an 
insistent  will,  strong  hands  and  self-sacrificing 
]>arents,  went  to  the  Academy  for  a longer  or 
shorter  time.  But  for  the  majority,  the  common 


Address  of  Dr.  Hewett. 


35 


school,  or  People’s  ‘‘College,”  as  I have  described  it, 
was  all. 

In  the  light  of  modern  public  education,  you  say. 
How  crude!  How  meager!  How  inadequate!  True, 
my  dear  friend.  But,  out  of  just  such  schools  came 
a large  proportion  of  the  men  and  women  who  have 
made  this  country  what  it  is,  at  the  close  of  this 
wonderful  “nineteenth  century.”  Some  of  those 
old-time  teachers  were  notoriously  unfit  for  their 
places, — could  not  the  same  be  said  of  some  at  the 
present  time?  None  of  them  had  received  special 
training  for  teaching,  none  had  any  theoretical 
knowledge  of  pedagogy,  correlation  or  appercep- 
tion. But  they  had  common  sense,  they  knew  hu- 
man nature,  they  had  interest  in  their  work,  and 
they  sympathized  with  their  pupils.  Quite  frequent- 
ly the  teacher  was  a bright,  ambitious  young  fel- 
low from  college,  like  the  one  so  graphically  de- 
scribed by  Whittier,  in  “Snow  Bound.” 

Of  the  pupils,  too,  many  were  in  grim  earnest  in 
their  school  work;  they  had  learned  the  lesson  of 
toil,  and  they  did  not  shrink  from  it  on  the  farm  or 
in  the  school;  they  appreciated  their  privileges  and 
fully  realized  that  their  time  for  school  was  short; 
they  had  learned  the  lesson  of  sturdy  self-reliance, 
and  did  not  expect  to  be  carried  over  the  hard 
places,  nor  to  take  their  educational  pabulum  in 


36 


“OUK  PiIX'tHIM  Fathkks.” 


the  form  of  spoon  victuals  or  “cut  feed.’’  Some- 
thing besides  the  best  appliances,  a perfect  system, 
a theoretically  philosophic  method,  was  necessary 
to  secure  success  thcu^  and  ncjw. 

Just  about  sixty  years  ago,  a wonderful  change 
in  school  matters  began.  Massachusetts  estab- 
lished a State  Board  of  P^ducation,  with  Horace 
Mann  at  its  head;  Normal  Schools,  Teachers’  Insti- 
tutes and  Teachers’  Associations  quickly  followed. 
Text-books  began  to  improve  wonderfully,  both  in 
matter  and  make-up;  improved  apparatus,  reference 
books  and  libraries  began  to  make  their  way  into 
the  schools;  steps  began  to  be  taken  in  the  produc- 
tion of  modern  children’s  literature  as  well  as  pro- 
fessional literature  for  teachers;  public  high  schools 
began  to  multiply;  it  was  the  dawn  of  the  present 
public  school  system. 

I have  no  time  to  trace  these  movements,  to  com- 
mend or  to  criticize  them.  It  must  suffice  to  say 
that  the  advancement  has  been  amazing;  but  the 
goal  is  not  reached,  nor  are  all  problems  solved, 
nor  all  dangers  passed.  But  it  is  fair  to  say  that 
there  are  certain  great  fundamental  facts  of  huiiian 
nature  and  of  child  nature,  which  are  unchange- 
able and  cannot  be  ignored  with  safety;  some  of 
these  facts  have  been  discovered,  but  I think  I need 
not  name  them  in  this  presence. 


AdDRESvS  of  Dk.  Hewett. 


37 


That  these  truths  or  facts  were  distinctly  felt — 
thoug-h  not  formulated — by  the  g-ood  teachers  of  the 
old  time,  accounts  for  what  was  g*ood  in  their  work, 
and  it  was  much.  That  these  truths  cannot  be 
safely  ig*nored  in  the  future,  however  elaborate  and 
costly  our  machinery,  or  ing-enious  and  perfect  our 
methods,  we  shall  do  well  to  remember. 


The  same  beinys  do  not  remain  long-  on  earth.  But  others  coming- 
after  take  up  their  work  and  g-o  beyond  them.  In  this  way  new  fields  of 
vision  and  beauty  are  ever  openingr  before  us,  and  new  ideas  are  born 
into  life. — Eherhart. 


THE  PRESIDENT’S  INTRODUCTION  OK 
JOHN  K.  EBERHART. 


According-  to  the  legends  of  the  family,  it  was  at 
four  o’clock  on  Sunday  morning,  June  15,  1834,  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  that  the  gentle  zephyrs  were 
first  disturbed  by  1113^  melodious  voice.  My  father 
brought  his  faniil}-  to  Hudson,  McLean  County, 
Illinois,  in  the  spring  of  1838.  It  took  him  three 
weeks  to  accomplish  the  journe3"  which  now  can  be 
made  in  thirty  hours.  We  commenced  the  life  of 
pioneer  farmers  immediately.  • There  were  no 
schools  in  our  neighborhood  until  about  1845  or 
1846. 

In  December,  1856,  I was  teaching  my  second 
school  in  Kappa,  Woodford  County,  and  John  W. 
Cook  was  one  of  m3"  pupils.  I read  regularly  and 
with  much  interest  the  “Illinois  Teacher,”  edited 
by  Charles  E.  Hovey,  superintendent  of  the  Peoria 
schools.  The  establishment  of  a State  Normal 
School  was  the  great  subject  before  the  educational 
men  of  the  state.  The  State  Association  was  to 
hold  its  fourth  meeting  in  Chicago  during  the  holi- 
days and  the  “Teacher”  urged  that  ever3^  school- 
master in  the  state  should  be  present  and  help  to 
accomj)lish  the  work  in  hand.  I determined  to  go 
40 


Introduction  of  John  F.  Ebp:rhakt. 


41 


and  it  is  safe  to  saj  to-nig-ht  that  the  enthusiasm 
received  at  my  first  teachers’  meeting-  has  never 
been  lost.  Never  having-  been  fifty  miles  from 
home  before  the  sig-hts  of  “the  g-reat  city”  impressed 
me  much.  We  arrived  at  the  Chicag-o  and  Alton 
depot  about  midnig-ht  and  as  I looked  down  one  of 
the  streets  my  first  thoug-ht  was  that  for  some  rea- 
son, unknown  to  me,  little  bonfires  had  been  built, 
on  either  side  along-  its  whole  leng-th! 

One  evening-,  before  the  usual  lecture,  I wandered 
into  a picture  store  and  was  attracted  by  the  ap- 
pearance of  a tall,  scholarly  looking-  g-entleman  who 
was  evidently  admiring-  the  treasures  spread  upon 
the  walls.  I hardly  know  how  it  came  about,  but  I 
soon  found  myself  eng-ag-ed  in  a pleasant  conversa- 
tion with  the  g-enial  man.  And  ladies  and  g-entle- 
men,  the  friendship  thus  happily  beg-un  has  con- 
tinued during-  all  the  past  forty-one  years,  and  I 
take  g-reat  pleasure  to-nig-ht  in  introducing-  to  you 
John  F.  Eberhart,  who  was  the  County  School 
Commissioner  of  Cook  County  when  I met  him  in 
the  little  picture  store. 


ADDRESS  OK  JOHN  F.  EBEKHART. 


fORTY-THREE  years  ag-o  I first  saw  a Western 
State.  Chicago  then  had  42  teachers;  now  it 
has  about  5,()()0.  Then  it  took  about  S2,5()0  to 
pay  them  for  a month’s  services;  now  it  takes  nearly 
8500,000. 

The  first  educational  meeting  I attended  in  this 
state  was  at  Bloomington,  in  July,  1855.  It  was  a 
meeting  of  the  “State  Board  of  Education”  ap- 
pointed b}^  the  State  Teachers’  Institute  held  at 
Peoria  the  preceding  winter.  This  board  consisted 
of  nine  members  and  seemed  to  have  plenary  powers 
in  matters  educational  in  the  state,  and  arranged 
for  the  annual  meeting  of  the  State  Teachers’  In- 
stitute in  this  city  in  1855,  which  meeting  42 
years  ago  I also  attended,  as  well  as  every  annual 
meeting  thereafter  for  seventeen  consecutive  years. 
All  of  these  sessions  were  full  of  interest  and  inci- 
dents, many  of  which  history  does  not  record.  At 
almost  every  session  there  was  some  great  forward 
movement  projected  by  some  of  the  early  leaders. 
In  fact,  I think  that  this  Association,  with  its  fore- 
runners of  kindred  associations,  can  rightly  claim 
fatherhood  to  nearly  all  the  improvements  in  our 
present  excellent  system  of  education  in  the  state; 
— such  as,  amendments  to  the  school  law,  the  estab- 


42 


AddrKvSvS  of  John  F.  Fberhakt. 


43 


lishment  of  state,  county  and  local  supervision,  and 
the  creation  of  schools  for  normal  instruction. 

There  was  a g-ood  deal  of  feeling-  on  the  part  of 
some  of  the  leading-  teachers  in  the  meeting-  of  1855 
ag-ainst  “outsiders”  as  they  were  called.  They  pro- 
posed to  amend  the  constitution  so  as  to  exclude 
from  membership  all  except  practical  school  room 
teachers,  but  finally  compromised  by  admitting-  also 
all  school  officers  in  the  State.  I think  this  is  still 
the  constitution  of  the  Association.  The  teachers 
felt  that  theirs  was  a specific  profession,  having-  in 
charg-e  a special  work,  and  they  did  not  want  to  be 
interfered  with  by  ministers,  politicians  and  g'en- 
eral  reformers  who  were  usually  g-ood  talkers  and 
manipulators.  And  they  especially  feared  the  in- 
fiuence  of  such  men  as  W.  F.  M.  Arney,  Bronson 
Murray,  Prof.  J.  B.  Turner  and  others  who  had 
really  hitherto  been  the  leaders  in  educational 
affairs  of  the  State.  These  were  broad-minded  men 
and  powerful  in  a deliberative  body  and  had  held  a 
number  of  educational  conventions  in  the  interest 
of  g-eneral  education  in  the  State,  and  had  projected 
a plan  for  a g-rand  industrial  university,  with  a 
Normal  School  as  a prominent  department.  Here 
was  the  issue.  The  teachers  wanted  an  inde- 
pendent Normal  School  and  not  a department  in  a 
University. 


44 


“OuK  Pii,(;kim  FathkKvS.” 


If  mj  memory  is  correct  we  had  128  teachers  at 
our  first  meeting*  here  in  this  city  in  1855.  But  the 
Association  g-radually  g*rew  in  numbers  as  it  did  in' 
importance  and  power,  until  in  (lalesburg*  in  1867, 
it  numbered  about  600,  and  now  numbers  its 
thousands. 

In  some  respects  in  the  early  days  of  this  Associ- 
ation we  had  the  advantag*e  over  you  of  the  present 
day.  There  were  not  as  many  of  us  then  so  that 
we  had  a better  chance  to  become  acquainted  with 
each  other  and  form  many  pleasant  personal  friend- 
ships and  associations.  Some  of  these  friendships 
in  a number  of  cases  also  matured  into  something- 
better  and  more  lasting*  and  made  benedicts  out  of 
bachelors  and  charming*  housewives  out  of  school- 
ma’ams.  This  may  have  impoverished  the  ranks  of 
the  teachers,  but  surely  enriched  the  schools! 

We  were  nearly  all  poor  in  those  days  and  had 
small  salaries;  so  the  railroads  g*ave  us  half  rates 
and  the  g*ood  people  where  we  met  entertained  us 
in  g*enerous  style — ending*  usually  with  a royal  ban- 
quet. We  also  had  book  ag*ents  then,  all  jolly  g*ood 
fellows,  and  they  were  a strong*  feature  of  every 
meeting*  and  g*enerous  to  the  extreme.  It  will  take 
the  men  of  that  day  a long*  time  to  forg*et  “Ed.  Os- 
band,”  “Jim  Hawley,”  “M.  Tabor,”  “Georg*e  W. 
Batchelder”  and  others.  And  we  not  only  had 


Address  oe  John  K.  Eberhakt. 


45 


banquets  and  book  ag-ents  but  we  sometimes  had 
fun  g'oing-  and  returning-.  Once  on  our  way  down 
here  we  missed  connections  at  Decatur  and  had  to 
stay  there  in  the  one  depot  hotel  of  the  place  all 
nig-ht.  And  as  there  were  not  beds  enough  to  go 
round,  some  of  the  teachers — having  no  beds — de- 
cided to  divide  the  time  with  the  teachers  having 
beds.  Just  how  or  when  they  changed  I have  never 
learned!  But  it  was  a very  noisy  and  jolly  opera- 
tion and  seemed  to  last  all  night.  The  landlord 
was  much  perplexed  next  morning  in  making  out 
his  bills,  but  finally  decided  he  ought  to  have  dou- 
ble rates  for  the  beds  occupied  by  two  sets!  It  is 
proper  to  say  that  our  robust  friend,  E.  A.  Gastman, 
who  is  always  equal  to  every  occasion,  was  not  in 
Decatur  at  that  time,  or  he  would  no  doubt  have 
been  able  to  solve  this  noisy  problem  of  space  and 
time  in  no  thne.  On  another  occasion  it  took  us 
nearly  a whole  week  to  get  back  to  Chicago,  and  we 
were  not  drunk  either — though  perhaps  not  re7nark- 
ably  sober  all  the  way.  When  we  left  Springfield 
the  snow  was  two  feet  deep  and  the  thermometer  25 
degrees  below  zero.  Some  of  us  had  had  experience 
in  winter  travel  in  the  west  and  had  laid  in  a barrel 
of  crackers,  a good  stock  of  oysters  and  other  edi- 
bles; and  thus — with  the  aid  of  wooden  fences — our 
valuable  lives  were  preserved  until  at  the  end  of 


46 


“Our  Pii.grim  Fathp:ks.” 


three  days  we  reached  Pontiac,  where  the  g-ood  peo- 
ple took  us  in  and  housed,  warmed  and  fed  us;  and 
where  for  their  special  benefit  we  held  an  adjourned 
session  of  the  Association  in  the  court  house.  It  is 

t 

well  that  no  record  was  ev^er  kept  of  this  meet- 
ing*. Your  present  speaker  was  chairman  - and 
althoug*h  somewhat  experienced  in  parliamentary 
tactics — could  not  maintain  decorum,  confine  the 
speakers  to  their  topics,  or  limit  the  time  devoted 
to  applause! 

I will  ask  your  pardon  while  I g’ive  some  personal 
reminiscences  and  activities. 

When  I first  saw  the  State  of  Illinois  it  seemed 
like  a g*reat,  g*rand  unfenced  prairie.  There  were 
a few  railroads  in  the  state  but  they  were  “hard 
roads  to  travel.”  The  stations  were  eig*ht  or  ten 
miles  apart,  the  little  clusters  of  houses,  people  and 
teams  at  each  station  looked  very  much  alike.  But 
the  little  school  house  was  always  in  the  back- 
g*round.  The  reason  I came  to  Illinois  was  because 
m}^  doctors  said  I could  no  long*er  live  and  work  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  they  kindly  sent  me  west  to  die. 
But  after  I had  breathed  the  air  and  spirit  oi  this 
country  a while,  and  beheld  the  work  to  be  done  in 
my  chosen  field  of  labor,  I did  not  want  to  die.  It 
seemed  like  an  inspiration  to  me,  and  not  being- 
well  enoug'h  to  do  reg*ular  duty  in  the  school  room. 


AddkKvSS  of  John  F.  Eberhart. 


47 


I became  a sort  of  missionary,  an  out-rider  as  it 
were  (thoug-h  I often  had  to  g-o  a-foot)  in  the  g’reat 
army  of  educators  in  the  west.  As  soon  as  I was 
able  I commenced  adjunct  work  by  delivering*  courses 
of  scientific  lectures  before  some  of  the  hig*her  in- 
stitutions of  learning*.  The  first  course  of  ten  lec- 
tures was  g*iven  before  the  Lee  Center  Academy 
over  which  Prof.  Simeon  W.  Wrig*ht,  one  of  the 
early  leaders  of  this  Association,  presided.  These 
lectures  were  an  experiment  intended  to  be  popular 
and  instructive  and  I was  surprised  at  the  interest 
they  created— especially  with  the  small  amount  of 
apparatus  I had  at  command.  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  attendance  at  the  first  of  these  lectures, 
the  last  was  always  g*reater  than  the  house  could 
accommodate.  But  my  health  was  not  equal  to  the 
task. 

I then  did  some  editorial  work  on  country  and 
city  papers,  and  afterwards  edited  and  published  the 
‘‘Northwestern  Home  and  School  Journal.”  You 
see  that  the  title  of  my  paper  was  larg*e  enoug*h  to 
fully  cover  the  case  and  take  in  the  whole  county. 
My  aim  was  to  make  a paper  that  would  be  at  once 
a newsbearer,  in  its  line,  and  an  educator  and  in- 
structor in  the  family  and  school.  It  was  not  espe- 
cially intended  for  teachers — except  incidentally.  I 
had  an  ideal  of  a possible  paper  in  the  direction  of 


48 


•‘OUK  PlI.GKIM  FaTHKKS.” 


my  effort;  and  in  this  I had  the  endorsement  of  such 
men  as  Henry  Barnard — by  whom  I was  employed 
to  hold  teachers’  institutes,  and  also  afterwards 
offered  work  on  his  “Journal  of  hlducation” — of 
John  G.  Saxe,  the  poet,  Elihu  Burritt,  the  learned 
blacksmith,  and  Horace  Mann,  may  I say,  the  g'reat- 
est  of  all  American  educators,  whose  friendship  I 
valued  g'reatly  and  whose  very  presence  was  an  in- 
spiration. These  were  all  contributors  to  my  paper. 
And  my  friends,  I still  believe  that  such  a journal, 
with  a sufficient  amount  of  brains,  money  and 
energ-y  back  of  it  could  be  made  an  eminent  success 
in  every  way.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  at  the  end 
of  three  years,  when  elected  superintendent  of  the 
schools  of  Cook  County,  I was  glad  to  donate  all  its 
valuable  interests  to  the  “Illinois  Teacher.”  And 
it  took  several  years  of  my  salary  to  square  accounts 
with  the  world. 

For  sixteen  years  I attended  every  session  of  the 
legislature— and  also  the  Constitutional  Convention 
— in  the  interest  of  educational  legislation,  usually 
as  a member  of  a committee  of  the  State  Teachers’ 
Association  or  other  educational  body,  and  some- 
times alone.  First  it  was  for  the  establishment  of 
the  Normal  University,  and  then  the  various  amend- 
ments to  the  school  law  in  favor  respectively  of 
school  libraries,  graded  schools,  teachers’  institutes. 


AddreSvS  of  John  F.  Fbkrhart. 


49 


township  liig-h  schools,  county  supervision  and 
county  normal  schools. 

My  first  reg-ular  work  in  the  State  was  to  aid  in 
the  establishment  of  school  libraries.  The  books 
were  selected  by  the  State  Superintendent,  Mr. 
Hovey,  and  myself.  Prof.  Wrig-ht,  Prof.  Wilkins 
and  myself  were  appointed  to  select  ag’ents  to  intro- 
duce them.  They  had  not  much  time  and  took  the 
southern  end  of  the  State,  while  I having-  all  my 
time,  had  the  central  and  northern  part  of  the  State. 
They  soon  g-ot  discourag-ed  and  abandoned  the  work 
— while  I kept  on  until  I had  visited  every  county 
in  my  part  of  the  State,  and  appointed  about  thirty 
ag-ents  who  introduced  90  per  cent,  of  the  libraries. 
There  was  no  “boodle”  in  these  libraries,  but  we 
were  each  paid  $100  a month  and  expenses  for  the 
time  employed.  The  libraries  were  intended  for 
the  rural  districts,  and  as  such,  were  g-ood  in  their 
time  and  did  g-ood  work.  My  next  work  was  to  aid 
in  the  establishment  of  g-raded  schools;  and  for 
which  purpose  I visited  most  of  the  northern  cities 
of  the  State,  conferring-  with  teachers  and  boards  of 
education.  I also  worked  in  institutes  and  had  the 
honor  of  holding-  the  first  institute  in  many  of  the 
northern  counties  of  the  State.  In  this  woik  I had 
many  rich  and  interesting-  experiences,  some  of 
which  I would  like  to  relate  if  I had  time.  I will 


50 


“OuK  Fathers.” 


mention  two.  I was  invited  by  Rev.  Mr.  Cross, 
the  School  Commissioner  of  Putnam  County,  to  hold 
an  institute  at  Hennepin.  It  was  to  be  held  in  the 
court  chamber.  When  I g’ot  there  about  11  o’clock 
on  the  day  it  was  to  open  I found  only  two  lady 
teachers  present.  They  reported  that  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Cross  had  broug-ht  them  in  his  carriage  and  had 
gone  off  about  twenty  miles  to  marry  a couple  and 
would  return  next  evening,  and  for  me  to  go  ahead 
with  the  institute!  There  were  three  schools  in 
session  in  the  place  as  though  nothing  had  occurred. 
I took  the  ladies  with  me  and  we  visited  the  schools. 
The  teachers  said  the  board  had  discussed  the  mat- 
ter and  decided  not  to  close  the  schools.  I then 
visited  the  board,  who  had  an  idea  that  an  institute 
was  a scheme  of  the  teachers  to  get  more  pay.  But 
after  some  discussion  they  gave  me  an  order  to  dis- 
miss the  schools.  I spent  that  afternoon  in  the 
schools  and  did  some  lively  talking.  I invited  the 
larger  children  and  their  mothers  especially  to  come 
and  hear  me  talk  in  the  evening.  A goodly  number 
were  out.  I struck  out  right  and  left  and  hit  as 
hard  as  I could  and  made  something  of  a sensation. 
I again  invited  the  larger  pupils  and  the  mothers  to 
be  with  us  the  next  day— and  they  were  there.  A 
few  more  teachers  also  arrived  and  the  school  com- 
missioner came  in  the  evening.  I then  talked  and 


Address  of  John  F.  Fbekhart. 


51 


taug-ht  every  day  and  lectured  every  nig-ht  to  audi- 
ences that  the  larg*est  church  could  hardly  contain 
and  closed  Friday  nig*ht  in  a triumph  of  enthusiasm. 
The  g'ood  people  then  passed  the  hat  for  a collec- 
tion to  pay  me  for  my  elTorts,  and  g-ot  $13,  and  as 
that  covered  my  expenses  we  were  all  happy!  There 
was  much  amusing*  and  pleasant  detail  about  this 
institute  which  it  would  take  hours  to  relate. 
About  twenty  teachers  reported  before  we  closed, 
and  I felt  that  a g*ood  work  had  been  done. 

I also  held  an  institute  later  at  Belleville.  It  was 
the  home  of  Georg*e  Bunsen,  who  was  School  Com- 
missioner, and  who  had  been  a pupil  of  the  g*reat 
Pestalozzi.  Bunsen  was  a g*rand  man  and  had  as 
profound  a conception  of  education  as  any  man  in 
the  State.  There  were  over  100  teachers  present  at 
the  opening*  and  among*  them  a Methodist  minister 
and  a Catholic  priest.  I feared  trouble  as  it  was  in 
a time  of  hot  discussions  on  the  use  of  the  Bible  in 
school.  But  the  question  had  to  be  met,  and  I im- 
mediately stepped  up  to  the  Catholic  priest  and 
said,  it  was  our  custom  to  open  with  a few  verses 
from  the  Bible  and  a short  prayer,  and  invited  him 
to  officiate.  I had  noticed  both  a Catholic  and 
Protestant  Bible  on  the  desk.  He  walked  rig*ht  up 
to  the  desk,  picked  up  the  Protestant  Bible,  read  a 
few  verses  and  offered  an  appropriate  prayer.  The 


52 


“OuK  Pji.gkim  Fathp:ks.” 


next  morning-  the  Methodist  minister  used  the 
Catholic  version  of  the  Bible;  and  we  had  a happ}^ 
time  all  the  wa}"  throug-h  with  lectures  in  the  even- 
ing- by  such  disting-uished  educators  as  Dr.  Edwards, 
Dr.  Bateman,  Dr.  Ho3"t,  of  the  Washing-ton  Univer- 
sity, and  last  and  least,  your  humble  servant.  And 
I want  to  add  that  two  of  the  young-  teachers  who 
attended  that  institute  afterwards  became  State 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  of  the  State — 
Hon.  James  P.  Slade  and  Hon.  Henr}^  Raub.  Since 
coming-  here  your  present  State  Superintendent, 
Hon.  S.  M.  Ing-lis,  has  also  informed  me  that  he 
was  once  an  official  member  of  an  institute  that  I 
attended.  Three  such  incidents  make  a strong- 
case! 

When  elected  Superintendent  of  Schools  of  Cook 
County  in  the  fall  of  1859,  I had  to  abandon  much 
of  my  out-work  as  I had  enoug-h  home  work.  I 
served  in  that  capacity  ten  years.  I could  not 
describe  the  condition  of  affairs  in  Cook  County  at 
that  time  if  I had  time.  The  schools  had  never 
had  any  supervision;  certificates  were  issued  indis- 
crimately  to  anyone  who  could  arrang-e  with 
directors  to  teach.  Directors  were  of  every  character 
and  nationality,  as  the  lands  in  many  of  the  districts 
were  occupied  by  tenants  and  squatters.  I have 
known  two  out  of  three  of  the  directors  in  a district 


Address  of  John  F.  Ebekhakt. 


53 


to  sig^ti  their  names  to  a schedule  by  ‘‘making-  their 
mark.”  In  one  district  the  daughter  of  one  of  the 
directors  was  paid  $50.00  a month  to  teach — without 
a certificate, — the  son  was  paid  $5.00  a week  as 
janitor,  and  the  director  himself  was  getting  $50.00 
a month  for  superintending  the  building  of  a new 
frame  school  house  of  two  rooms.  Whether  he  ever 
got  to  be  an  alderman  or  member  of  the  legislature 
I am  not  advised.  But  I went  to  work  with  a will 
as  best  I could,  visiting  the  schools,  and  teachers, 
meeting  the  boards,  and  holding  two  institutes  a 
year.  But  qualified  teachers  could  not  be  had;  and 
I immediately  commenced  the  agitation  in  the 
Board  of  Supervisors  for  a County  Normal  School. 
After  several  years  of  personal  effort  and  per- 
sonal visitation  with  each  member  of  the  Board  of 
Supervisors — 54  in  number — they  were  finally  in- 
duced to  appropriate  money  to  make  a trial  of  a 
County  Normal  School  in  1864.  This  was  done 
before  any  State  act  had  been  passed  for  County 
Normal  Schools.  But  after  the  school  was  estab- 
lished, Prof.  D.  S.  Wentworth,  the  first  principal, 
and  myself,  drew  the  act  for  County  Normal  Schools 
in  the  State,  and  I took  it  to  Springfield  and  had 
no  trouble  in  having  it  passed,  as  it  was  heartily 
endorsed  by  the  State  Superintendent,  that  great 
and  good  man — the  Horace  Mann  of  the  West — 


54 


“OuK  Pii^(;kim  Fathkks.” 


Newton  Bateman.  Thus  as  I understand  it,  Cook 
County  has  the  honor  of  establishing-  the  first 
County  Normal  School  in  the  State,  as  well  as  in 
the  United  States,  and  also  of  g-raduating*  last  year 
the  larg-est  class — over  500— ever  graduated  from 
any  Normal  School  in  the  world.  This  Normal 
School  is  now  called  the  Chicago  Normal  School  as 
the  land  on  which  it  was  erected  is  now  in  the  city. 
When  it  was  built  it  was  put  eight  miles  out  from 
the  center  of  Chicago,  so  that  the  city  would  never 
reach  it.  But  Chicago  has  already  covered  it,  and 
is  now  about  eight  miles  this  side  of  it,  and  still 
coming  in  this  direction,  and  I give  Dr.  Cook  of  the 
State  Normal  University  this  early  notice  that  he 
may  have  his  house  in  order  when  it  arrives.  Cook 
County  also  has  the  honor,  I think,  of  establishing 
the  first  high  school  under  the  township  high 
school  act. 

It  is  not  possible  for  anyone,  who  has  not  lived 
through  the  last  fifty  years,  and  witnessed  the 
magic  changes  that  have  taken  place,  to  have  any 
true  and  realistic  conception  of  the  condition  of 
life  and  effort  before  these  changes.  Then  there 
^ere  practically  no  railroads,  no  telegraphs  and 
telephones,  no  electricity  or  steam  power,^  and  I 
might  say  practically  no  school  books,  or  free 
schools  in  this  western  country.  And  one  can 


Address  of  John  F.  Eberhart.  55 

hardly  realize  that  these  chang'es  have  come  slowly 
and.  with  much  labor  and  sacrifice.  To  one 
looking*  backwards  they  seem  rather  like  the  quick 
and  brilliant  turn  of  the  kaleidescope.  When  I was 
a boy  my  father  living*  in  Pennsylvania  had  occa- 
sion to  write  a letter  to  a man  in  Quincy,  Illinois, 
and  it  took  the  letter  three  months  to  go  and  three 
months  for  the  answer  to  return  — making*  six 
months  — and  the  postag*e  on  each  letter  cost  a 
dollar. 

As  I have  studied  the  work  of  this  g*rand  body  of 
teachers,  thinkers  and  philosophers  I am  naturally 
impressed  with  the  chang*es  that  have  taken  place 
in  educational  affairs,  from  the  crude  to  the  better, 
from  the  less  to  the  greater.  But  in  everything* 
there  has  been  an  advance.  The  little  strawberry 
of  fifty  years  ag*o  is  now  as  larg*e  and  lucious  as  a 
peach,  and  the  five  or  ten  pound  watermelon  weig*hs 
50  or  100  pounds,  while  the  sing*le  little  house 
shrub  blossom  of  by-g*one  days  is  now  the  grand 
and  g*org*eous  crysanthemum  as  larg*e  as  a school 
teacher’s  head.  Is  it  not  meet,  then,  that  the  little 
school  house  should  evolutionize  into  the  university, 
and  this  Association  show  like  advancement,  hav- 
ing* greater  parts  and  functions?  And  althoug*h 
something  of  a believer  in  Darwinian  philosophy,  I 
am  sometimes  at  a loss  to  know  which  ought  most 


S6 


“(JuK  Pii/;kim  Fathp:ks.” 


to  rejoice,  the  man  that  rose  from  a monke3%  or  the 
monkey  that  croliiiiojiizcd  into  a man! 

And,  my  friends,  we  are  not  3^et  at  the  end  of  our 
discoveries.  Some  of  us  may  think  we  know  all 
that  is  comprehended  in  the  word  education.  But 
who  is  bold  enoug*h  to  say  that  some  better  methods 
ma}"  not  come  to  develope  the  boy  into  the  man,  the 
still  g’reater,  g-rander,  phj^sical,  moral  and  intellect- 
ual man.  Your  work  is  not  completed.  Our 
lang-uag*e  is  not  perfect — especiall}-  in  the  expression 
and  delineation  of  tine  feeling*  and  high  idealities. 
Our  written  language,  too,  is  still  cumbersome, 
although  stenograph}^  has  brought  us  some  relief, 
while  our  modes  of  transmitting  thought  orally, 
are  slow  and  heavy.  You  can  all  think  much 
faster  than  I can  talk.  And  while  it  is  true  that 
thought  with  gilded  feet  has  learned  to  trip  the 
live  wire  around  the  world  at  the  rate  of  10,000 
miles  a minute,  and  the  ear  can  catch  the  tick  of  a 
watch  1,000  miles  away,  and  the  eye  by  means  of 
the  X-rays  looks  into  the  inner  recesses  of  the 
human  bod}", — is  it  not  reasonable  to  believe  that 
man  has  not  yet  reached  the  full  limit  of  his  power? 
Our  sense  perceptions  may  some  day  be  projected 
yet  farther  out  into  the  mysteries  of  nature  and 
bring  to  our  quickened  understanding  still  more 
wonderful  knowledge  than  we  have  yet  acquired. 


Address  of  John  F.  Fbkrhakt. 


57 


And  who  can  say  that  all  these  improvements  and 
discoveries  may  not  yet  be  superceded  by  something- 
better,  and  even  the  telescope  which  has  done  so 
much  for  science,  be  laid  aside  as  a thing  of  the 
past,  while  our  brighter  visions  in  some  new  way 
may  reach  the  stars,  and  the  “man  in  the  moon’^ 
become  a reality! 

My  friends,  the  world  is  moving  and  the  teacher 
to  do  honor  to  himself  and  his  profession  must  not 
rest  on  his  oars,  but  move  on,  have  his  colors  flying, 
and  keep  tread  to  the  giant  march  of  the  world.  And 
while  I honor  the  names  and  lives  of  our  great  local 
leaders,  such  as  Bateman,  Hovey,  Edwards,  and 
many  others,  who  had  the  courage  in  early  days, 
like  Nansen’s  “Fram,”  to  break  their  way  through 
the  ice-crust  of  prejudice  in  search  of  greener  fields; 
there  is  also  a long  list  of  names  in  this  Stale  of 
the  quiet,  obscure  and  now  almost  forgotten  work- 
ers of  the  past — every  one  of  which  should  be 
written  in  letters  of  gold.  They  often  labored 
when  their  work  was  not  appreciated  and  under 
many  discouragements,  and  with  poor  salaries.  But 
they  toiled  on  with  a spirit  of  hope  and  enthusiasm 
that  partook  of  inspiration.  And  when  the  great 
leaders — the  generals  of  the  army — get  their  mede 
of  praise,  I always  feel  like  taking  off  my  hat  and 
making  my  profoundest  bow  to  the  common,  soldiers, 


58 


“OijK  Pir.GKiM  Fathers.” 


the  workers  who  have  made  it  possible  for  g-enerals 
to  be,  and  who  really  have  done  the  fig-h ting*,  rec(n'- 
ered  the  land,  and  planted  the  standard  of  free 
schools  in  every  valley  and  on  every  hill-top  of  our 
g-lorious  State. 

(xod  bless  the  teachers,  who,  with  inspiration 
akin  to  divinity,  spend  the  best  days  of  their  lives 
in  making-  men  and  women  in  the  obscure  schools 
of  the  land. 

It  is  said  of  Dr.  Franklin  that  when  near  the  end 
of  his  g*reat  life  he  exclaimed,  “I  was  born  a hun- 
dred years  too  soon!”  I feel,  too,  under  the  inspir- 
ation of  this  occasion,  not  that  I was  born  too  soon, 
but  that  I would  like  to  take  in  3^et  another  hundred 
years  to  see  the  works  and  wonders  of  the  world; 
and  to  behold  the  teacher,  in  his  full  stature,  g-lor- 
ious in  his  rig-htful  domain,  wearing-  a crown — 
not  the  emblem  of  bloody  battle  fields  and  conquered 
peoples — but  beg-emmed  with  such  jewels  as  virtue, 
justice,  reason,  humanity;  and  triumphant  over  the 
inner  and  outer  enemies  of  man,  having- made  money 
his  friend  and  not  his  oppressor;  and  having-  dis- 
solved with  his  scepter  of  reason  all  the  trusts-  and 
sinful  combinations  that  are  born  of  avarice  and 
g-reed;  and  smitten  down,  if  need  be,  all  the  old 
j)olitical  j)arties  in  the  interest  of  a g-rand,  new 
party  of  humanity  and  brotherly  love. 


William  Godwin  said  of  one  of  his  novels  that  in  writinjr  it  he  meant 
that  no  man  when  he  laid  it  down  should  be  the  same  man  that  he  was 
when  he  begran  to  read  it.  This  is  the  spirit  of  the  true  teacher.  Like 
the  sower  of  the  parable,  he  knows  not  which  ^r3,\n  shall  prosper,  this  or 
that;  but  his  seeds  are  from  the  g-ranaries  of  God;  and  he  scatters  w’ith 
g'enerous  hand.  Upon  every  pupil  he  will  make  his  mark.  Reworks 
with  the  confidence  of  a Michael  Ang-elo  that  every  stroke  of  the  chisel 
tends  to  the  creation  of  some  fair  ideal;  and  that,  rough-hewing'  as  his 
work  ma^’  seem,  in  him  and  through  him  the  Divinity  shapes  its  ends. 

— Willard. 


Samuel  Willard,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  hh.  D. 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  INTRODUCTION  OF 
DR.  WILLARD. 


Charles  E.  Hov^ej  was  the  president  and  Profes- 
sors Ira  More  and  Newton  Bateman  were  prominent 
in  all  the  discussions  of  that  Chicag'o  meeting*.  It 
is  a remarkable  fact  that  these  three  men  have 
‘‘passed  to  the  beyond”  since  the  prog*ram  for  the 
exercises  of  this  evening*  was  arrang*ed.  One  of  the 
last  letters  that  Dr.  Bateman  ever  received  was  an 
invitation  to  address  you  to-nig*ht.  I have  asked 
his  life  long*  friend  and  classmate  at  Illinois  Colleg*e, 
Dr.  Samuel  Willard,  to  fill  the  vacant  place. 


ADDRESS  OF  DR.  WILLARD. 


“]M 


ATURE,”  says  Emerson,  “wears  the  colors 
of  the  spirit.”  Grief  adds  depth  to  the 
darkness  of  the  nig*ht,  while  sunshine 
seems  to  exag-g-erate  our  joys.  And  yet  sorrow  sad- 
dens even  the  warmth  and  brig-htness  of  the  sum- 
mer. That  seems  impertinent  while  we  mourn  a 
loss.  One  brilliant  Aug-ust  noon,  to  me  the  day 
suddenly  seemed  less  brig*ht.  No  eclipse  had  dark- 
ened the  sun;  no  cloud  had  dimmed  the  deep  blue 
sky.  But  I had  read  the  brief  news  that  told  of  the 
death  of  one  I loved  and  honored.  Such  eclipse  all 
of  you  must  have  suffered  in  our  brig*ht  October, — 
all  of  you  who  personally  knew  Newton  Bateman; 
and  all  who  were  not  too  young-  to  know  of  his  work 
in  education  surely  g-ave  him  the  passing-  tribute  of 
a sig-h.  He  was,  for  a full  g-eneration,  one  of  the 
g-reat  influences  of  our  State,  both  as  a teacher  and 
as  an  officer;  and  as  I knew  him  fifty-seven  years 
ag-o,  and  now  no  other  survives  who  knew  him  as 
closely  as  I knew  him  during-  our  long-  friendship,  I 
am  bidden  to  present  this  brief  memorial. 

Newton  Bateman,  of  Eng-lish  ancestry,  was  born 
in  Bridg-eton,  county  seat  of  a southern  county  of 
New  Jersey,  July  27,  1822,  and  was  a little  over 
seventy-five  years  old  at  his  death  Oct.  21,  1897. 

63 


64 


“OuK  Pii.GKiM  Fathers.” 


‘‘Saturday’s  child  must  work  for  his  livdn^”  says 
an  old  rhyme;  and  so  this  Saturday’s  boy  entered  a 
life  of  toil;  toil  at  hrst  from  stern  necessity;  toil 
imposed  later  by  the  spirit  within  that  made  him  a 
helper  of  men,  and  foupd  scant  room  for  idleness. 

Of  the  boyhood  in  New  Jersey  I never  heard  Mr. 
Bateman  speak.  His  father,  Berg-in  Bateman,  was 
a weaver  by  trade:  a trade  which  gTew  less  and  less 
profitable  as  modern  manufactories  sprang-  up. 
When  the  boy  was  in  his  eleventh  year,  Mr.  Berg-in 
Bateman  fell  into  the  g-reat  current  of  mig-ration 
that  was  flowing-  westward,  and  that  promised  new 
opening’s  for  business  and  enterprise.  He  came  to 
Illinois  in  1833,  and  landed  at  Meredosia  on  the 
Illinois  river  with  five  children  and  the  corpse  of 
his  wife,  dead  of  the  new  pestilence,  Asiatic  cholera. 
Our  Newton  Bateman  was  the  young-est  of  the  five. 

The  family  suffered  the  hard  g-rind  of  poverty  for 
many  years. 

An  elder  son  struck  out  for  himself  as  soon  as  he 
had  an  opportunity,  but  never,  as  long-  as  I knew  of 
him,  was  in  condition  to  help  the  family  much,  up 
to  his  death  in  California.  Little  Newton,-  small 
for  his  ag-e—  he  nev^er  g-rew  tall,  dwarfed,  probably, 
by  the  privations  that  hedg-ed  in  his  youth— little 
Newton  became  an  errand-boy  in  the  family  of  an 
eminent  jurist  and  judg-e  then  living-  in  Jacksonville. 


AdDREvSvS  of  Dk.  WiEEAKI). 


65 


It  was  there  that  a great  ambition  was  roused  in 
the  bo}".  The  judg-e  had  a pretty  daug'hter,  sweet 
and  lovely  in  temper.  A passion  of  boyish  love  de- 
termined him  to  make  such  place  that  he  mig*ht  ask 
her  hand  on  equal  terms.  He  would  g’o  to  the  col- 
leg-e  then  rising*  on  the  hill  west  of  the  town;  he 
would  enter  a profession,  and  then 

To  that  ambition,  to  that  passion,  I may  say,  we 
are  indebted  for  the  Newton  Bateman  we  have 
known.  That  hope  carried  him  throug*h  a strug*g*le 
of  twelve  years.  He  did  not  marry  her  at  last.  It 
is  with  no  derog*ation  from  the  young*  lady  that  I 
saj^he  did  better,  and  so  did  she:  each  found  a more 
suitable  partner:  there  are  adaptions  aside  from 
individual  worth.  In  speaking*  of  these  four,  I 
speak  of  the  dead. 

Of  the  youthful  days  that  followed  I can  say  lit- 
tle. They  were  heavy  years  to  him.  He  once  told 
me  of  spending*  cold  days  of  winter  at  cutting*  wood 
with  but  a pone  of  corn-bread  for  his  noonday  meal. 
But  the  beautiful  maiden  and  the  determination  to 
be  more  than  a wood-chopper  were  never  out  of  his 
thoug*hts:  these  sustained  him. 

To  the  preparatory  school  connected  with  the  col- 
leg*e  he  went,  and  entered  Illinois  .Colleg*e  as  a 
freshman  in  1839. 

Illinois  Colleg*e  was  the  first  colleg*e  in  the  State 


66 


“OuK  Piix;him  P^athkks.” 


to  form  reg-ular  classes  and  have  a graduation. 
Our  great  war-governor,  Richard  Yates,  was  of  the 
first  class,  graduating  in  1835.  Bateman  entered 
its  ninth  class,  and  graduated  in  1843.  His  class 
numbered  ten,  most  of  whom  have  shown  a remark- 
able vitality:  hfty-four  years  after  their  graduation 
day,  six  of  the  ten  were  living;  five  of  us  still  sur- 
vive at  ages  ranging  from  seventy-four  to  seventy- 
nine.  And  the  class  proved  above  average  for 
ability  and  influence. 

How  did  we  live  in  college  in  those  days?  Classes 
were  small;  as  there  were  no  high  schools  or  acad- 
emies in  those  days,  the  colleges  had  preparatory 
departments;  but  all  told  the  pupils  then  at  Illinois 
hardly  numbered  seventy.  Few  were  from  wealthy 
families;  many  found  it  hard  to  get  along.  Many 
boarded  themselves;  that  is,  they  purchased  food 
which  they  cooked  and  prepared  in  their  own  rooms. 
Bread  we  bought;  other  things  we  learned  to  make 
ourselves.  We  had  only  the  ordinary  heating  stoves 
of  sixty  years  ago;  on  or  in  these  we  fried  or  broiled 
meat;  boiled  or  fried  eggs,  or  scrambled  eggs,  if 
skillful  enough;  we  made  mush;  baked  potatoes  or 
apples;  and  in  our  simple  fare  we  had  healthful 
food  at  little  cost.  During  his  preparatory  years, 
on  one  occasion,  when  funds  were  scanty,  for  two 
successive  weeks,  Bateman  and  his  room-mate,  (who 


AdDKESvS  of  Dk.  Wiffard. 


67 


was  afterward  Dr.  Aug-ustus  F.  Fland,  of  Morris, 
111.),  lived  at  the  cost  of  twelve  and  a half  cents  a 
week  for  each  of  them.  Their  sole  food  was  corn- 
meal  mush  of  their  own  making*,  eaten  without 
milk,  butter,  syrup,  molasses,  or  any  other  trim- 
ming* or  relish.  I think  this  experience  was  not  re- 
peated. Such  was  the  sturdy  perseverance  and  in- 
dependence with  which  many  a youth  gained  his 
diploma  in  those  days.  When  Bateman  and  I were 
room-mates,  as  we  were  in  our  junior  and  senior 
years,  I lived  week  after  week  at  a food  cost  of 
sixty-two  and  a half  cents;  and  he  spent  no  more 
than  I.  We  were  glad  to  pick  up  any  odd  job  to 
earn  a little.  I remember  a student  who  was  after- 
ward a major  in  our  patriot  army  and  a member  of 
congress  who  was  mortar-mixer  and  hod-carrier  for 
the  plasterers  one  summer. 

P^or  light  we  could  not  afford  candles  (this  was 
before  the  days  of  coal-oil ) ; we  made  strong  light 
with  a lamp  of  Greek  style,  lacking  beauty  of  form: 
to-wit,  a saucer  of  lard,  with  a wick  made  of  a 
twisted  rag  projecting  over  its  edge.  Such  were 
our  Diogenes-like  economies.  But  when  Bateman’s 
son  and  mine  went  to  college,  there  was  quite  a dif- 
ferent story. 

Bateman  while  in  college  was  subject  occasion- 
ally to  fits  of  discouragement  and  almost  of  des- 


68 


“OUK  Pi6(;kim  Fathkws.” 


pondencj;  but  these  were  short,  for  he  was,  consti- 
tutionall}"  and  on  conviction  and  principle,  cour- 
ag-eous,  cheerful  and  optimistic.  Of  all  the  class, 
he  had  the  g’reatest  sense  of  humor,  and  the  keenest 
appreciation  and  enjoyment  of  pure  fun.  He  en- 
joyed g-ood  solid  nonsense,  like  the  verses  of  Edwin 
Lear  or  the  Adventures  of  A/iee  in  Wonderland, 
Perhaps  no  other  man  apprehends  rationality  so 
thoroug-hly  as  the  man  who  also  sees  its  contrast, 
the  sham  rationality  of  nonsense,  and  appreciates 
mirthfully  the  difference.  The  lack  of  such  appre- 
ciation of  the  ridiculous  leaves  man  a prey  to  prac- 
tical absurdities. 

Bateman  never  wrote  serious  poems,  but  often 
produced  comic  verses.  He  did  not  /rv  to  be  the 
wag*  of  his  class;  his  fun  was  spontaneous,  bubbling* 
out  of  a joyous  heart;  his  laug*hs  were  the  heartiest; 
he  rejoiced  in  existence.  His  class-mate,  Thomas 
K.  Beecher,  responding*  to  my  announcement  of  his 
death,  writes:  “He  always  has  been  and  will  be 
‘Newt.  Bateman,’  dear  old  boy  that  he  was  and  is.” 
Looking*  at  his  subsequent  life,  I see  that  this  ex- 
uberance of  the  comic  was  a relief  to  his  supersen- 
sitive nature,  and  lig*htened  many  a load  which 
those  of  sterner  mould  would  have  carried  with 
clenched  teeth  and  knitted  brows. 

In  the  last  ^x^ar  of  our  course  a class  in  Latin  of 


AddkkSvS  of  Dk.  WiIvIvAki). 


69 


the  Preparatory  Department  was  assig'ned  to  Bate- 
man for  instruction,  and  thus  he  began  his  true 
career.  Graduating  in  June,  1843,  he  planned- to 
enter  the  ministry  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  of 
which  he  was  a member.  He  went  to  Lane  Semin- 
ary. But  lack  of  money  caused  him  to  leave  the 
school,  and  take  a book  agency,  an  occupation  less 
common  then  than  now.  He  sold  Lyman’s  Histor- 
ical Charts  in  map  form,  then  a new  work.  He 
traveled  in  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Pennsylvania,  and 
other  states  to  the  east,  meeting  the  usual  rebuffs 
and  occasional  successes  of  such  agents.  He  could 
afterward  make  fun  of  encounters  that  at  the  time 
were  bitter  enough.  He  came  once  to  the  verge  of 
absolute  beggary,  when  some  one  sent  him  relief 
anonymously.  In  the  fall  of  1845  he  had  gathered 
a private  school  in  what  was  then  the  northern  part 
of  St.  Louis;  and  there  I found  him,  jolly  after  the 
fashion  of  Mark  Tapley,  making  the  best  of  a life 
of  care  and  narrow  means.  But  he  was  making 
reputation;  and  in  1847  he  was  elected  Professor  of 
Mathematics  in  the  University  of  Missouri  at  Col- 
umbia. 

At  this  time  Mr.  Bateman  was  walking  along 
that  dangerous  ledge  where  many  fall.  The  flow- 
ery path  of  dissipation  temptingly  invited  him. 
His  vivacity,  wit,  social  spirit,  and  other  attractive 


70 


“OrK  Pii.(;kim  Fathp:ks.” 


qualities  made  him  welcome  everywhere,  and  espe- 
cially among-  those  of  his  own  ag-e,  some  of  whom 
were  associates  vvhom  a better  acquaintance  did  not 
iind  worthy.  Ag-ain  love  and  honor  saved  him 
from  these  baleful  companions.  Soon  after  he  was 
appointed  professor,  he  married  Sarah  Dayton,  of 
Jacksonville;  not  his  boyish  first  fancy,  but  one 
whose  sweetness,  dig-nity  and  intelligence  com- 
mended her  to  his  manly  judgment  and  love.  She 
drew  him  gently  away  from  dangerous  associates 
before  they  had  tainted  him. 

In  1861  the  west  district  of  Jacksonville  estab- 
lished a free  school,  and  called  him  to  its  head. 
Thenceforth  he  was  felt  as  a power  there  and  in 
meetings  of  teachers.  He  became  School  Commis- 
sioner of  Morgan  county.  He  threw  himself 
zealously  into  the  movements  which  founded  the 
State  Normal  at  Bloomington,  the  Agricultural 
and  Industrial  College  which  is  now  the  University 
of  Illinois  at  Champaign,  and  into  the  work  of  the 
State  Teachers’  Association.  This  body  made  him 
vice-president  for  1855  and  editor  of  one  number  of 
the  Illinois  Teacher^  a paper  which  they  then  founded 
by  appointing  monthly  editors.  He  was  made  sole 
editor  for  1858. 

In  the  summer  of  that  year  he  was,  contrary  to 
his  own  wish,  made  the  Republican  candidate  for 


Address  Dr.  Wieeard. 


71 


State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  and 
elected  in  November.  He  did  not  wish  the  nomin- 
ation because  of  his  friendship  for  his  predecessor, 
Mr.  W.  H.  Powell,  and  because  he  had  just  ac- 
cepted the  principalship  of  the  Jacksonville  Female 
Academy,  so  that  he  felt  that  it  would  be  unfair  to 
its  trustees  and  teachers  if  he  should  seek  the  office. 
Emphatically,  the  office  sought  the  man.  I was 
his  confidant  in  this  matter,  and  speak  with  full 
knowledge.  Another  reason  was  that  on  May  16, 
1857,  Death  had  suddenly  taken  from  his  arms  his 
dearly  beloved  wife,  mother  of  his  only  son  and  of 
a daughter.  All  his  ambition  fled  away;  and 
despite  the  native  elasticity  of  his  spirit,  this  stroke 
wounded  him  so  deeply  that  I saw  no  ripple  of  a 
smile  upon  his  face  for  a year. 

In  January,  1859,  he  took  his  place  as  State 
Superintendent.  The  Free-School  Law  was  not 
quite  four  years  old,  and  was  needing  from  time  to 
time  interpretations  and  amendments  in  detail  to 
facilitate  its  operation.  He  was  made  its  judicial 
interpreter,  his  decisions  having  the  force  of  law 
until  over-ruled  in  court.  Mr.  Bateman  paid  much 
attention  to  these;  but  he  seized  upon  the  opportun- 
ity offered  by  his  position  to  discuss  in  his  reports 
principles  and  methods  of  education.  These 
documents  were  lively  appeals  to  the  people.  All 


“OiJK  Pii,(;kim  Fathkks.” 


72 

his  reports  are  worthy  of  study.  In  the  first,  1801, 
he  discussed  the  cardinal  principles  upon  which 
education  by  the  State  is  based;  the  rig-ht  of  the 
State  to  lay  taxes,  to  found  schools  and  to  require 
attendance,  and  its  duty  so  to  act.  He  obtained 
a law  for  the  g-ranting*  of  State  certificates. 

His  report  at  the  close  of  his  next  term  told  the 
working-  of  the  law  for  State  certificates;  the  condi- 
tion of  the  Normal;  the  institutes  held,  etc.;  he 
then  discussed  what  schools  should  do  in  their 
teaching-;  they  should  inculcate  (1)  submission  to 
discipline  and  lawful  authority;  (2)  moral  rectitude; 
( 3)  should  teach  the  theory-  and  org-anic  structure 
of  our  government;  (4)  should  inspire  love  of 
country;  and  (5)  “Education  should  be  true  in  its 
conception,  wise  in  its  adaptation,  and  sound  in  its 
methods.” 

(3f  course  as  this  was  written  in  the  second  year 
of  the  civil  war,  it  is  permeated  with  thoughts  and 
feelings  produced  by  that  great  crisis;  and  I cannot 
represent  Mr.  Bateman  better  than  by  showing  at 
once  his  style  and  his  temper  in  a quotation  of  the 
last  page  of  the  report,  given  in  the  winter  of  our 
adversity: 

“The  results  accomplished  within  the  past  four 
years  are  not  commensurate  with  cherished  hopes 
and  earnest  endeavors.  Perhaps  life  has  no  sadder 


AudkEvSvS  of  Dk.  Wiffakd. 


73 


lesson  than  the  conviction  that  the  distance  between 
the  hoped-for  and  the  attained  must  ever  be  so 
g-reat.  But  the  record  is  made  up  beyond  revision 
or  change;  and  its  elements  must  mingle  for  good 
or  ill  with  the  ever-moving  ever-swelling  stream 
that  bears  to  the  waiting  future  the  thoughts  and 
acts  and  efforts  of  to-day. 

‘‘The  past  four  years  have  been  most  eventful. 
When  I entered  this  office  in  January,  1859,  we 
were  a united,  powerful  and  prosperous  people;  as  I 
leave  it  in  January,  1863,  we  are  in  the  fiery  cruci- 
ble of  war  and  commotion,  if  not  in  the  throes  of 
national  dissolution.  It  sometimes  seems  like  a 
horrid  dream,  from  which  we  shall  surely  awake  to 
find  all  as  it  was — one  country,  one  flag,  one  des- 
tiny. I yet  have  faith  in  God,  in  the  patriotism  of 
our  people,  and  in  the  justice  of  our  cause;  but 
whatever  the  future  may  be,  the  sacred  duties  we 
owe  to  ourselves  and  our  children  cannot  be  neg- 
lected or  deferred.  Our  solemn  obligations  in  these 
respects  are  not  diminished,  but  enhanced  by  the 
perils  and  darkness  which  environ  the  nation.  If 
the  safeguards  of  a virtuous  education  are  essential 
in  peace,  they  are  still  more  so  amid  the  downward 
tendencies  incident  to  a state  of  war. 

“I  love  the  commonwealth  of  Illinois.  Arriving 
upon  her  soil  in  early  childhood,  all  the  years  of 


74 


“OUK  PlI/'.KIM  KaTHP:kS.” 


my  youth,  manhood  and  maturity  are  associated 
with  her  history  and  prog*ress.  Her  amazing-  re- 
sources were  then  undev^eloped,  her  great  career  as 
a state  just  commencing.  For  thirty  years  I have 
observed  her  growth,  sympathized  in  her  struggles, 
and  rejoiced  in  her  prosperit}".  To-day  she  is  the 
fourth  state  in  the  Union  in  population;  and,  with 
pardonable  pride  be  it  said,  lirst  in  the  Union  in 
the  relative  number,  if  not  in  the  heroic  achieve- 
ments of  her  citizen  soldiery.  May  the  day  never 
dawn  when  we  shall  blush  to  say,  “I  am  an  Illi- 
noisan!” I long  to  see  the  great  State  as  distin- 
guished for  the  intelligence,  integrity  and  honor  of 
her  people  as  she  is  for  the  elements  of  material 
wealth  and  greatness,  that  she  may  be  prepared  for 
the  exalted  destin}^  which  God  and  Nature  have 
placed  within  her  grasp.” 

Dropping  for  the  present  his  further  reports,  I re- 
turn to  the  year  1860.  When  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  nominated  for  president,  a suitable  reception- 
room  for  him  in  the  State  house  was  desirable.  The 
State  Superintendent  had  two  rooms;  he  shrank 
into  one  and  gave  the  other  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  Thus 
it  happened  that  the  two  came  into  close  acquaint- 
ance; and  Mr.  Lincoln  found  in  Bateman  an  an- 
swering spirit;  he  talked  rather  freely  of  his  feelings 
about  slavery  and  the  issues  of  the  day,  so  that 


Address  of  Dk.  Wiedakd. 


75 


Bateman  knew  what  impulses  moved  him,  thoug'h 
controlled  by  the  practical  wisdom  of  the  politician 
and  statesman.  Had  Mr.  Bateman  recorded  these 
conversations,  we  should  have  had  an  interesting- 
and  confidential  addition  to  the  story  of  that  g-reat 
life.  I remember  but  little  of  what  Bateman  told 
me  of  them. 

In  1862,  the  other  party  carried  the  State,  and 
Mr.  Bateman  was  but  of  the  office  for  two  years. 
He  became  chief  clerk  for  Gen.  Oakes  in  one  de- 
partment of  the  recruiting-  service  of  the  United 
States,  and  I held  a like  position  in  another.  In 
1864,  the  tide  turned;  he  resumed  his  place,  pecu- 
liarly his  place,  which  he  held  for  ten  years,  1865 
to  1875.  His  report  for  1867  illustrated  the  value 
of  education  to  men  as  soldiers;  he  named  important 
places  filled  by  the  colleg-e-trained  men  in  the  war. 
The  American  idea  of  popular  education  and  the 
relation  of  colleg-es  to  public  schools  were  pre- 
sented. 

In  1869  he  discussed  various  auxiliary  ag-encies; 
school  journals,  county  institutes,  county  superin- 
tendency, county  normals,  the  State  Teachers’  As- 
sociation, the  system  of  school-officers.  State  certifi- 
cates; and  he  g-ave  one  hundred  and  fourteen  pag-es 
to  an  account  of  the  rise,  prog-ress  and  condition  of 
the  colleg-es,  private  seminaries  and  academies  in 


76 


“()UK  Pii,(;kim  Fathers.” 


the  whole  State;  he  added  the  medical  and  commer- 
cial schools,  and  the  public  libraries. 

In  1871  he  discussed  natural  science  in  schools, 
the  benefits  of  hig-h  schools,  the  educational  rights 
of  children,  and  compulsor}"  education. 

In  1873  he  took  up  the  new  constitution  in  its 
relation  to  schools,  absenteeism,  public-school 
buildings,  with  a warning  against  extravagance; 
and  he  discussed  state  uniforfnity  of  text-books, 
opposing  it. 

In  1875  he  gave  us  his  last  word.  He  furnished 
in  eighty-three  pages  a critical  and  classified  list  of 
books  for  the  selection  of  school  libraries;  a lively 
sketch  of  a practical  study  of  natural  history;  and 
then,  under  the  title,  ‘‘The  Coming  Teacher,”  in 
glowing  words,  with  vivid  imagination  and  a warm 
heart,  he  set  forth  his  ideal  of  what  a teacher 
should  be.  I quote  the  first  paragraphs: 

“Through  costly  experiments,  splendid  failures, 
and  baffled  hopes,  we  make  our  way  toward  the 
Augustan  Age.  As  the  Israelite  awaits  the  re-advent 
of  the  lost  glory  of  his  race;  the  Christian,  the 
dawn  of  the  millennial  day;  and  the  millions,,  the 
coming  of  the  ‘good  time’  when  the  earth  shall  be 
greener  and  the  skies  brighter, — so  we  believe  in 
the  Coming  Age  of  Schools  and  Teachers.  But  for 
this  inspiring  hope,  this  vague  but  inextinguishable 


AddrKvSvS  of  Dk.  Wiffard.  77 

faith  and  long-ing-  for  something*  worthier  and  bet- 
ter, who  of  us  would  not  at  times  be  ready  to  drop 
the  oar,  and  in  hopelessness  suffer  the  boat  to  drift 
anywhither — anywhither?  Who  of  us  is  satisfied? 
Nay,  who  of  us,  comparing*  the  actual  with  the 
possible — the  present  with  the  hoped-for  diWA  should- 
he  and  may-he  in  the  field  of  education,  is  not  ready 
to  exclaim,  ‘How  long*,  O Lord?’ 

“In  the  rapt  visions  which  come  to  me,  as  they 
come  to  all,  I sometimes  seem  to  see  the  apocalyptic 
g-ates  swing  open,  and  far  down  the  aisles  of  the 
future,  brightly  revealed  in  the  soft,  clear  light, 
there  stands  the  Incarnate  Idea  of  the  Coming 
Teacher.” 

Following  the  magnificent  introduction,  he  de- 
picts his  high  ideal.” 

In  the  later  years  of  his  superintendency  he  had 
several  offers  of  college  places;  he  advised  with  me 
on  each,  but  said  “no,”  till  the  Presidency  of  Knox 
College  was  offered  him;  that  he  accepted.  What 
his  work  there  was  for  eighteen  laborious  years,  I 
have  not  time  to  tell.  The  college  had  needed  for 
a long  time  just  such  a man.  At  once  it  began  to 
rise.  Money  came  in  for  its  upbuilding.  Students 
flocked  in,  summoned  by  the  magic  of  his  name 
and  fame;  the  standard  of  education  rose;  young 
men  who  came  under  the  charm  of  his  influence 


78 


“OuK  Pii,(;wiM  Fatukks.” 


told  of  the  new  ])ower  they  had  felt.  While  doin^- 
this  work  for  his  college,  he  was  for  several  years 
an  active  member  of  State  Board  of  Health.  He 
was  in  demand  for  addresses  here  and  there.  He 
answered  all  calls  to  the  full  extent  of  his  streng-th. 
Meanwhile  his  home  ^rew  solitary.  His  second 
wife,  Annie  Tyler,  married  in  1859,  died  in  1877; 
his  four  daug'hters  married  and  left  him;  only  an 
orphan  niece  remained  with  him  to  the  end. 

But  all  the  while  there  was  creeping-  upon  him 
that  fatal  disease  of  the  heart  that  ended  his  sweet 
life.  In  1893,  on  the  anniversary  of  his  g-raduation 
fifty  years  before,  he  g-ave  his  office  into  the  hands 
of  his  successor,  g-ladly  laying-  down  a burden 
which  was  becoming-  too  heavy.  Holding-  the  po- 
sition of  a professor  emeritus,  he  taug-ht  only  a 
sing-le  class.  He  also  edited  a work  on  the  history 
of  Illinois  which  was  just  completed  at  his  demise. 
Finally  the  occasional  spasms  of  distress  became  a 
constant  and  increasing-  misery  that  culminated 
Oct.  21,  1897,  in  the  final  relief. 

Politically,  in  1840,  when  he  was  not  yet  a voter, 
Bateman  inclined  to  the  Democratic  party,  which 
did  not  for  many  years  thereafter  become  the  serv- 
ant of  slavery;  but  in  1856  he  voted  for  P^remont; 
and  while  he  was  a Republican  thenceforth,  he  was 
not,  exce])t  during-  the  war,  an  ardent  partisan. 


AddkKvSS  of  Dk.  WiUvAkd. 


79 


He  was  too  well  aware  of  the  evils  of  party  g'ov- 
ernment  to  be  a hearty  partisan. 

In  religion,  in  like  manner,  he  was  of  a most  lib- 
eral spirit,  unwilling  to  struggle  for  forms  and 
creed;  and  after  the  period  of  fermentation  that  fol- 
lowed his  leaving  Lane  Seminary,  he  returned  to 
the  reverent  attitude  of  his  youth.  He  had  a grow- 
ing sense  of  the  importance  of  practical  goodness 
that  rests  upon  an  inspired  inner  spiritual  life. 

Dr.  Bateman  was  exceedingly  tender,  sympathetic 
and  loving.  The  strokes  of  bereavement  seemed  to 
fall  crUshingly  upon  him.  The  loss  of  his  son 
Clifford,  a bright  young  professor  in  Columbia  Col- 
lege, nearly  overpowered  him.  During  the  war  he 
felt  for  days  and  weeks  the  agonies  of  every  slaugh- 
terous battle.  I am  of  the  opinion  that  such  sensi- 
tiveness may  have  disturbed  the  function  of  the 
heart,  and  laid  the  foundation  for  the  final  ailment. 
His  attachments  to  his  friends  were  singularly  loyal 
and  strong. 

While  his  pupils  of  the  district  school  and  of  the 
college  will  long  remember  the  clear-minded  and 
gentle  teacher,  stern  only  in  necessity.  Dr.  Bate- 
man’s greatest  influence,  like  that  of  Horace  Mann, 
to  whom  he  was  often  compared,  was  in  those  elo- 
quent reports  which  set  up  ideals  and  stirred  the 
hearts  of  those  that  read  them  to  a new  purpose 


80 


“OUK  PlI.GKIM  FaTHKKS.” 


and  a new  hope.  His  decisions  on  the  school  law, 
g-athered  in  a volume,  made  a text-book  for  school 
officers;  l>ut  his  appeals  to  teachers  and  to  the  peo- 
ple were  not  law,  but  g*ospel,  the  rev^elation  of  new 
and  better  ways,  with  encourag*ement  to  walk 
therein;  the  invitation  to  a perpetual  ascent.  Like 
the  ang*el  in  the  Apocalypse,  he  was  saying-,  ‘‘Come 
up  hither,  and  I will  show  thee.”  This  influence 
passed  the  bounds  of  Illinois,  and  is  still  spreading-. 
We  may  say  of  it  as  Tennyson  says  in  the  Bug-le 
song-,  speaking-  of  the  long-  echoes  of  the  bug-le  tones: 

“O,  love,  they  die,  in  yon  rich  sky; 

They  faint  on  hill,  or  field,  or  river; 

Our  echoes  roll,  from  soul  to  soul. 

And  grow,  forever  and  forever.” 


K:-'" 

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